Finding Home
by 1Yui
Summary: The 4th Shinobi War is over. Sasuke is back and has reunited with Naruto and Sakura. Sai questions his own place in Team 7 and contends with other internal issues that cause him to leave Konoha with fellow Root remnants. Canon fanfiction. non-angst
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

The Fourth Shinobi War is finally over. The enemy is defeated. Peace reigns among nations…well, generally speaking. Threats to that peace will always surface. But for now, Konoha, just like most hidden villages, is enjoying a much needed lull.

Each of the five great countries has pledged to support the economies of their respective shinobi village that formed the Allied Forces as it takes time to recuperate and get much deserved rest. The shinobi warriors, after all, saved the entire world from total annihilation or worse, total enslavement.

For Naruto and Sakura, these days are especially precious. Their friend Sasuke is back. No one ever expected it to happen, except maybe Naruto. How he managed to do it, how Sasuke came to his senses, how the Alliance won the war, that's another tale to be told by someone else at another time.

This story is about a silent hero of that war. Someone who observed from the background, at the same time, fought on the foreground. But generally, he remained unnoticed and unheralded even now.

Not that he desires any recognition. He's perfectly content that what he fought to protect remains intact. And more importantly, Naruto successfully proved to him just how deep the bond of friendship can be. Naruto's faith and determination gave him the strength to fight hard during the war. And now, he's one of its surviving veterans.

When Sasuke reunited with Naruto and Sakura, it filled him with happiness. But at the same time, he felt immense loneliness, loneliness that he could not explain. Or perhaps he could. He's just unsure of his own feelings and there's no one to confirm them. Books have proven to be unreliable. And it seems inappropriate at this time to ask anyone to clarify some things that should probably be obvious to a normal person.

Unfortunately, he can hardly be considered normal, not even by shinobi standards. He never was. He never will be.

oooOOOooo

_**"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, I don't know what the future holds, but I have a feeling those three have formed a bond so strong that no one will be able to break it. And someday…so will I."**_

Sai (Naruto Shippuden Ep. 238)

oooOOOooo

* * *

**End of Prologue**

* * *

**Next: Part I ~ Loneliness and Grief ~**

**Author's Note:**

You can read Prologue & Part 1 with background music and Shippuden clips at good ol' you tube. The clips explain where part of the inspiration came from. Here's the URL:

**wwwDOTyoutubeDOTcom/watch?v=-HOO8t5exH4&list=PL1933B724641F47A3&feature=plpp_play_all**

**(Replace DOT with actual dot ".") Direct link is in my profile**


	2. Part I

Note: This story contains spoilers for those who have not seen Shippuden Ep 263 "Sai and Shin"

Ep. 238 forms the framework of this story and is a recommended watch too. But then it could spoil or it could enhance. Up to you. ^^

* * *

**PART I**

**Loneliness and Grief**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"_**Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets **_

_**and makes night air smell better."**_

Henry Rollins (b.1961)

**oooOOOooo**

Sai sat on a hill with his back resting on a tree watching the sun as it set. It had become a habit since after the war ended just four months earlier. As usual, he took out his picture book and recalled his reunion with his late adoptive brother.

Shin, who was brought back from the dead through Edo Tensei, got blown up in front of him only to be revived quickly after, with the intention of using him again as a human bomb. He wondered if his brother felt any pain when it happened. At the time, he was sure he was going to be forced to fight Shin to the death just as they were supposed to as Root's trainees. But by some merciful grace, the picture book served as a key to the release of his brother's soul.

Through the cruelty of Kabuto's actions, he got to see Shin again. Even though the encounter was fraught with pain, he could not help but be grateful for the opportunity that would not have been possible if not for the war, a war that stirred all kinds of emotions that he never felt before. He marveled at the extraordinary occurrences that led him to that point.

Sai stood up just as the last streak of orange light vanished from the horizon. It was time to go home and make preparations. He took one last look at the vastness before him then onto the lights emanating from the town below.

The village was safe again. It will take time to recover from the ravages of war but people had more or less gone back to living normal lives. Children were reunited with their parents. Friends reunited with friends. It was as it should be.

As for him, there's nothing much to go back to. Root had long been disbanded. Upon Sasuke's return, his temporary assignment to Team 7 was understood to be over. Even before the official war started, he had not had a chance to work closely with Sakura and Naruto anyway. Their parting of ways seemed to have naturally taken its smooth course. It was time to move on. A new life awaited him. While he was not at all eager to start on the path, he felt he didn't have any choice. It was either that or remain as he was.

As he walked along the dimly lit street, he passed by Naruto's favorite food place Ichiraku Ramen. He thought for a second and decided he might as well have dinner there for old time's sake.

"Ah, Sai," Teuchi, the shop's proprietor, greeted him with a welcoming smile as he entered.

"Good evening," Sai said politely. "One bowl of ramen please."

"Ayame, one ramen," Teuchi called to his daughter in the kitchen. "So how've you been lately?"

Sai learned that shop owners were compelled to ask such routine questions to patrons as part of their service. They're not really interested in long answers. "Fine, thank you," was the obligatory response. Anything more would be troublesome for Teuchi-san, he surmised.

"Great! Well enjoy your ramen," was Teuchi's second routine statement.

Sai nodded and focused on the hot bowl. "Itadakimasu."

"Oh," Teuchi began again, "Naruto had lunch here today. He's as hyper as ever, isn't he?"

Sai smiled awkwardly and nodded his assent. He had not seen Naruto in a while but he was sure nothing changed with regard to the jinchuuriki's disposition. Naruto will always be Naruto. The thought was comforting.

After his meal, he politely bid the owner goodbye. For a second as he stood by the exit, he looked back inside and imagined Naruto sitting on one of the barstools slurping his ramen with much gusto. Sakura was on the seat next to his, her mouth moving as if she's scolding him but without sound. And then with some effort, he tried to imagine Sasuke sitting on the third stool but he couldn't picture him doing anything other than quietly eat his ramen. The whole image faded in an instant but the idea of those three together put a smile on his face. Finally, it was time to step out into the street and proceed home.

He entered his apartment and surveyed the space. Packing should be easy, he thought. His gaze strayed to the wall behind him and decided he would start by taking down his framed paintings. He examined each one and he frowned at his own work. These were paintings he did before he met Naruto and Sakura. None of the pictures stirred anything in him. How disappointing. He decided he would get to them later.

He spread out a scroll on his desk and drew a complicated symbol on its surface with quick but precise strokes. He then placed belongings on top that included a number of extra scrolls, a fair amount of ink, brushes and spare weapons. When he finished, he formed a hand seal and the objects disappeared with a faint poof. The objects were then stored within the scroll for easy transport.

He took out another scroll to store clothing and some personal effects. When he came upon a stack of drawings that he did throughout his term with Team 7, he spent a little more time going through each one. He tried to analyze the difference between those and his previous work. To him, they were indeed different but he couldn't judge if they were better. All he knew was that he could associate the latter ones with certain events he experienced. He guessed that would amount to the newer work as having some emotion invested in them. But did he need to keep any of them, he wondered. He went through everything again more carefully and made his decision.

The next day, Sai knocked on his landlady's door just an hour before dawn.

"Sai-kun, are you going already?"

"Yes, ma'am. I wanted to thank you for everything up to now."

"Oh, I should thank _you_. It will be hard to find another tenant who always pays his rent on time."

"I'm sure you will. Uhm, is it okay to ask a favor?"

"Of course."

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"_**The most terrible poverty is loneliness,**_

_**and the feeling of being unloved."**_

-Mother Teresa of Calcutta

**oooOOOooo**

It was still fairly dark out. Sai walked slowly down the street passing by familiar places that brought back memories that seemed so long ago. And yet, looking back, no more than two years had passed since his life made a turn.

Over on the rooftop not far off, he once sat and espied Naruto for the first time in an attempt to gauge his new teammate's reaction to his presence. Naruto was talking to Shikamaru and Chouji when he sent his ink lions charging. He could still vaguely remember the surprised look on their faces. He tried to remember the sensation but he knew he felt nothing. That was the old him, cold and emotionless.

These past few months, he wondered if he would have been better off that way. He would always decide later that he would not be. One could not possibly know the value of feeling joy and happiness if one had never felt sad or lonely. But then he wondered if the emptiness he had been feeling for a while would ever go away. He only began to be fully conscious of it a little after the war.

News of the Alliance's victory spread throughout the units and of course, much rejoicing took place. Shinobi from all five villages embraced each other in tears. He got hugged just like everyone and at the time, he truly felt the camaraderie among the victors.

He learned the details of the ultimate battle between Sasuke and Naruto from those who witnessed it. He was sure that despite Naruto's efforts, Sasuke would never be swayed. In his heart, he was glad to have been proven wrong.

When everyone got back to the village, extended celebrations naturally took place. That's when his internal turmoil started. More reunions, more embraces, more accounts of adventures recounted countless times to family and friends. Not so for him.

He suddenly found himself alone again, with no one to go back to, to talk to, or to embrace. It should not have been a problem. He had lived all his life without feeling the need for companionship. He tried to brush off the discomforting feeling when it plagued him but it only got worse as months passed.

He was invited a few times to group reunions with the original teams. Sasuke was still in the hospital recuperating. Naruto and Sakura would join the others for dinner and then proceed to visit him afterwards. In either activity, Sai didn't know where to fit in.

For some reason they all avoided talking about the recently concluded war. They say time heals all wounds but the latest experiences were still too fresh and they all preferred to remember days that were long gone.

And so the group would go on all night about their time at the Academy and their extraordinary encounters during the Chuunin exams, none of which Sai was a part of. They were all gracious enough to try and include him in the conversation but to all their stories, all he could utter was a polite "Is that so?" or "That's very interesting." And they were interesting in the beginning, but his mind would slowly stray off somewhere else as the night wore on.

After two more gatherings of the sort, however, he began to sense the futility of his presence and politely opted out when invited again. He didn't see the need to join Sakura and Naruto in visiting Sasuke either. In fact, he felt he would only be in their way.

Such were the feelings that burdened him since he got back from the Fourth Shinobi War. Joy and relief easily gave way to loneliness and grief, for he would often think about his brother and wished that their own reunion wasn't so abrupt and their parting so permanent.

Then one day, he received a visitor from his past that would serve as his way out of his seemingly suspended state.

"It's been a long time," an old comrade from Root greeted when Sai opened the door to his apartment. He let his visitor in, conscious of a time when knocking on one's door wouldn't have been necessary. Root used to freely enter his dwelling from the window at any time, armed with instructions from the late Shimura Danzo. Those days are past and the disbanded Root members had since been trying to adapt common rules of ethics.

Over a cup of tea offered by Sai, his guest proceeded to relay the purpose of his visit.

"Do you remember the time after Danzo-sama's death when you came to us with proposals for change within Root?"

"Of course, Senpai," Sai replied to his senior. How could he forget? It was during that period when they all realized they were free from the curse that bound them to a life of secrecy.

"You were a great help to the faction."

"I'm glad you think so."

Sai knew the pleasantries would soon be over and he wondered what the real purpose of the visit was. Indeed it was he who initiated the changes within Root. Based on his endorsement, the Hokage had invited the members to become part of the regular ANBU teams under her direct command. Root fought alongside everyone as part of the Alliance. Many perished during the struggle. But over all, it helped the otherwise leaderless members to gain a sense of continuity after Danzo's demise.

"The truth is," his senior started. "Our members have done their best to adapt to the regular system. They have pretty much functioned just as effectively in their missions as in the past."

Sai waited for the glitch to be revealed.

"The problem is they get very restless when they are out of commission."

"What do you mean?"

"They find it difficult to interact with regular shinobi, much less villagers, in what's the word…_ casual_ situations."

"I know the feeling," Sai replied sincerely. Lately, _casual_ situations were all there was.

"You have associated with them much longer than any of us have," the older man continued. "How have you adjusted?"

The question could not have come at a worst time.

"I uh…"

"Here's the situation," the man began after a while of silence. Sai seemed to be at a loss for words and he did not go there to find out about the young man's condition. "The inactivity is taking our toll on our senses. What we agreed to among ourselves is that we need to be on continuous active duty."

Sai could identify with the sentiment. He did not feel as bad when he was busy fighting during the war or when he was assigned on missions prior to it. He appreciated the short breaks but being out of commission for too long may be the reason why he felt so uneasy he thought. The only physical activity of late came from self-imposed training, as well as light missions and sentry duties assigned by rotation.

"Our background is just too different from the other shinobi of this village," the man continued. "Those outside Root cannot understand how difficult the current situation is for us."

"What do we do about it?" Sai asked still wondering why he was being told these things. His association with Root was no longer required.

"News reached us that there are threats arising from the west of Earth and Wind countries. The Alliance is still in place. They have asked for volunteers to go out and act as rangers to guard and defend the terrestrial borders."

"So you volunteered?"

"Yes. All of our members did. The mission involves mostly patrol and surveillance but there's also a chance of direct engagement with the enemy. Our training in Root makes us highly qualified for the job."

Sai nodded. It was ironic that a hovering threat was appealing to him. "May I volunteer?"

"That's why I'm here. Your skills will be very useful."

"I will join then."

"One thing though, the mission will run indefinitely."

Sai tried to process what that meant. His senior correctly read the reaction and proceeded to explain.

"It means we will be stationed throughout the far regions abroad. We only need to send in regular reports by courier to the Alliance Commander so it's likely we will not need to come back to Konoha. It's not a problem for any of us since none of us have families."

After a while, his senior stood up and proceeded to the exit. Once he stepped out the door, he turned to face Sai again. "We have adopted our own permanent names as well. I find it very convenient. You may call me Natagama."

"Alright, Natagama-senpai," Sai said with a smile. Natagama took note of the gesture but did not smile back. He had not particularly gotten around to practicing facial expressions yet.

"I will await your decision by the end of the week, Sai," he said, emphasizing the name with keen interest. Having names was surely convenient but he did not begrudge Danzo-sama for denying them such little privileges. They in Root managed well enough without them. Still, it _was_ convenient.

Sai slowly closed his door and stood there for a while facing the wall as he was once again forced into deep thought. He suddenly hesitated when Natagama said they may not be returning to Konoha. He asked for some time to think it over and he was given a week to do so. The volunteer unit, which would be known as Shinobi Rangers, would be deployed another week after that. A week seemed long enough to think things through. Surely he would find the answer by then.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

******oooOOOooo**

"_**Loneliness is never more cruel than when it is felt in close propinquity**_

_** with someone who has ceased to communicate."**_

Germaine Greer

**oooOOOooo**

The week passed quickly and Sai almost found it ridiculous to have assumed he needed such a long time to decide. What was he waiting for? What was he expecting to happen? Within the allotted time he tried to figure out if there really existed some ties that linked him to Konoha, something or someone that would make him stay. By the time the week ended, he wished he decided quickly on the day of Natagama's visit. If he did, he would have been spared the disappointment of not finding anything. Confirming relationships he wished he had turned out to be a difficult task, at least, for someone like him.

At one time when Konoha was being rebuilt after Pein's invasion, he already contemplated on the value of relationships. A child then asked him if _"nakama"_ and _"tomodachi"_ was the same thing. It was too complicated a question for him to answer. He understood _nakama_ pretty well. He could confidently say that Naruto, Sakura and others he worked with were his _comrades_. But he had no such confidence when it came to the term _friend_.

When he became more or less a regular member of Team 7, Sai discovered the freedom of speaking his mind. Apart from the occasional consequence of a punch from Sakura or a flabbergasted reaction from Naruto, he generally felt he was slowly getting integrated into the _normal_ system. Through open communication, he even started to believe that he was becoming their _friend_.

But in later time, his confidence gave way to doubt due to one particular incident before the war. Out of concern, he bluntly expressed his conviction to Sakura about how Naruto was being bound by a promise to get Sasuke back. As a result, she ended up lying to Naruto and dangerously sought out Sasuke by herself. Naruto went through an internal struggle because of it, an emotion so strong that he passed out. Sai believed he was being a friend but seeing as how it turned out, he decided he got it all wrong.

It affected him more deeply than he realized because since then, all he could think of whenever he had to speak in regard to personal situations was if he would cause problems for anyone. Considering all these things all the time became exhausting for him and so he reverted back to limited and polite speech to be safe.

He still admired the bonds that he witnessed, bonds that could not be broken by time, distance or adversity. Upon meeting Shin again, he became sure it was the kind of bond that he shared with his late brother. He was just less certain he could form anything that strong again. In the beginning, his hope lay in Team 7. But after all that had transpired, his expectations gradually faded.

To ask anyone about his difficulties seemed inappropriate, especially since people were in a celebratory mood. He was told many times before that some things just happen. So maybe it was just him, or more precisely, they in Root, who failed to understand the system of _normal _things.

When Danzo-sama died, it almost equated to losing a parent...or at least, Sai's idea of a parent. Danzo-sama had explanations for everything and they did not even need to ask. He ordered, they obeyed. They knew what they had to do without troublesome debates or considerations. He would not be surprised if many in Root wished they were back under Danzo's iron rule.

As the week ran on, he found himself empathizing with his Root comrades even more. If he, who had spent more time with regular shinobi in _casual_ situations, was still having problems understanding them, and they him, how much more those in Root who were only recently thrown in the same condition? He was then beginning to consider that perhaps it was impossible for them to assimilate like he expected.

After all, weren't those common things supposed to happen naturally? Was the question "Are we friends?" even necessary? If not, wasn't he supposed to feel it within him? He'd like to think he would feel it someday but perhaps not here. Not in Konoha but somewhere else.

The week ended and he finally informed Natagama of his decision to join the Rangers. A day before his deployment, he did gather the courage to knock on one person's door despite already committing to the job. He figured the man might somehow relate to his situation, though what that situation was, he still could not identify.

"Sai, it's good to see you. What brings you here?"

"I was wondering if you could spare some time, Yamato-Taicho," Sai said. Even Naruto and Sakura still called their former captain by his code name. Tenzou showed his guest in and offered tea to which Sai politely nodded and gave thanks.

"It's a good thing you came. I've been meaning to speak with you," Tenzou said.

"You have?" Sai's heart leaped with expectation. Could this be his chance to get some answers?

"Yes, I learned that your old comrades in Root have volunteered for a new mission abroad."

"Oh, that."

"You know about it?"

"Yes, I'm joining them."

"Really?" Tenzou was surprised by this. He was aware that it was a long-term mission. He also knew that Root's ex-members were insistent on taking the job that involved facing very harsh conditions far out of the country. He didn't expect Sai to want to work in such a mission.

"Yamato-Taicho," Sai began. Tenzou waited trying to figure out what was going on in the young man's mind.

"I, uh," Sai stammered, but as he expected, he couldn't come up with a proper question. Just then they heard a playful knock from outside. Tenzou excused himself and proceeded to the door.

The new guest was no other than Sai's former Reconnaissance Party team leader Anko. "Heya! I got away early," she said cheerfully to Tenzou. She held up a bottle of wine. "Ooh! This is a surprise," she said upon finding Sai in the living room.

"Anko-taichou!" Sai said equally surprised. "Good evening." He could say nothing else. He had no idea his former captains were in a relationship. But then it struck him as pleasantly appropriate.

It was Tenzou who seemed embarrassed at the sudden revelation but managed to compose himself despite a hint of red on his cheeks. "Sai here is going to join the volunteer mission," he told Anko. "You were saying, Sai?"

"I...," Sai began. "I came to say goodbye and to thank you. I'm grateful that I was under your command." He bowed once to Tenzou and then to Anko.

Tenzou nodded but wasn't sure what to say. Finally, he settled on a safe statement. "You're a good shinobi, Sai."

"I'm really glad you survived Yamato-taichou. And you too Anko-taichou," Sai said sincerely. He considered it another miracle that both his captains made it alive and had recovered well after all they went through under captivity during the war.

He quickly excused himself soon after and Tenzou showed him to the door. But before the young man left, Yamato managed to express a concern.

"Sai, that mission entails staying in the vast wilderness for extended periods just to patrol the territories, you know that right?"

"Yes. The Alliance only managed to gather only few volunteers overall so I imagine we will be thinly spread out."

"It will be awfully lonely out there," Tenzou said half-jokingly.

Sai tilted his head a little, stared blankly into space and considered the statement. "Hmm…I think…to be lonely when you're alone is much easier than to be lonely among company."

Tenzou watched Sai as he left. He wanted to discourage him but hesitated. He knew Sai to be a level-headed young man who didn't make decisions rashly. But those last words troubled him.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

******oooOOOooo**

"_**Who knows what true loneliness is - **_

_**not the conventional word but the naked terror?**_

_**To the lonely themselves it wears a mask. **_

_**The most miserable outcast hugs some memory **_

_**or some illusion."**_

Joseph Conrad

**oooOOOooo**

And so at last, there he was, walking along the street before dawn after leaving his apartment. He made one last stop en route to the Rangers' rendezvous point. He stood in front of the art supply store and stared at the entrance with the "closed" sign hanging on the door. He felt it was the one shop he would miss the most. He bought a fair amount of ink on his last visit just a few days before.

Upon learning that Sai was leaving, the owner was gracious enough to refer him to the direct supplier of his special ink abroad. It was the least he could do for his customer's patronage through the years. Because of the kind gesture, Sai felt his impending departure was going very smoothly. Too smoothly, in fact, that he was convinced his decision was the right one. The absence of any hindrance served for him a clear confirmation.

It seemed fitting that the rendezvous point was in front of Root's old headquarters. It was where most of the ex-members stayed even after Root was disbanded. It had been Sai's home for about ten years. Home. Where will home be now, he wondered. Where was it ever? He looked at his old comrades and thought that perhaps his place was really among them after all.

Many of the men were already wearing their masks. Sai took out his own from his pouch and put it on. There was definitely a sense of security within the anonymity. It would especially be important when they set out into the unknown.

All at once they proceeded to the front gate to wait for final instructions. The Hokage saw it fit to formally see them off. Exactly at dawn, Tsunade arrived along with the jounin commanders and ANBU officers. The Elders joined them.

Natagama approached Tsunade and handed her the final list of volunteers. "Sai?" Tsunade blurted out in surprise when she saw his name on the list. She had been coordinating with Natagama in behalf of the others. She did not expect Sai to be among them. Sai came forward when he heard his name called and he kneeled, assuming he would be given an order. It was, Tsunade noted, a force of habit with this bunch. She composed herself and asked him to stand up.

"Uhm…would you all take off your masks please. I'd like to see your faces." The group complied awkwardly. One by one, Tsunade called out their names and she memorized each face that responded. Then she turned to the elder Koharu who insisted on saying some parting words. Koharu cleared her throat and in a loud voice began to speak.

"In behalf of Konoha, we thank you for offering your services to this important mission to protect not just the Country of Fire but all countries comprising the Alliance. Konoha was able to gather the most number of volunteers to this calling and we are extremely grateful for your dedication. Make us proud."

The two rows of Shinobi Rangers numbering twenty one bowed politely.

Tsunade thought the speech a bit arrogant but she kept her reaction to herself. Why should these battle-scarred men, who felt no connection to their own homeland, care about making anyone proud? While she did not doubt their abilities and sense of duty, she had qualms about sending them out into this particular mission in their current state. She understood their eagerness to sign up. The elders wanted badly to show off to the Alliance that they immediately encouraged Root's initiative. She, on the other hand, wished she could have done more to prevent the sense of detachment that she knew drove the volunteers to their decision.

"Listen all," she began. "Konoha is your home and always will be. We look forward to welcoming you back when the time comes. We will await word of your conditions from the Alliance Commander."

The Rangers bowed again then gathered to leave, each one putting back his mask on. Tsunade doubted her simple yet sincere message got through.

And so it was time to take off. But before doing so, Sai approached his former team leader who was standing nearby.

"Kakashi-senpai, thank you for everything up to today," he said with a low bow.

"How did your teammates take it?" Kakashi asked.

"Teammates?"

"Naruto and Sakura. You bid them farewell, didn't you?"

"Uhm…I didn't think it was necessary."

"Why not?"

Sai thought for a moment. Should he have done it after all? He considered doing so within the past week but thought better of it. They had not worked closely together in over a year. As for being teammates, the original Team 7 is complete again and he was sure he was no longer part of it.

"I'm sorry. I guess I still haven't learned the protocol among ex-comrades," he replied pleasantly. "I haven't seen them in months. I don't think they'll notice. But in case you see them, please tell them it was good to work with them." Saying these things behind a mask made it particularly easy.

"Here, a small parting gift," Tenzou said as he handed Sai two packs of rice crackers. "In case you get hungry." He had been standing beside Kakashi all throughout the short ceremony.

"Senbei? Thank you Yamato-Taichou," Sai was quite touched by the gesture and again felt glad that he was wearing a mask. He made a final bow to both of them then proceeded to join his party.

On a hand signal from Natagama, the volunteers departed with a flicker just fifteen minutes after dawn according to schedule. They are Root, no, they are the Shinobi Rangers. There's nothing _casual_ about their upbringing. They were trained to fight, to attack and to defend. Rest and recreation were over-rated. They'd rather be in action, free of the cares involving complicated relationships.

"Senpai…"

"Yes, Tenzou?" Kakashi responded. The rest of the officers were already making their way back to town but the two of them were still staring at the far distance.

"Are you alright with this?" Tenzou asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

"Not really," replied Kakashi with his lazy drone.

"Kakashi," Tsunade called from behind them. "I need to talk to you in my office."

"I wonder if I'll be held liable for this," Kakashi thought aloud while watching Tsunade walk away. He gave Tenzou a short nod then followed the Hokage back to her building.

"Did you know about Sai?" Tsunade asked when they were inside her office.

"Tenzou told me last night. I assumed Sai was still in touch with Naruto at least. He may be suffering the same conditions as the rest. I'm sorry I didn't notice."

"I'm not blaming you. And it's not just Sai. I'm concerned for all of them. I think we have all been rather insensitive to their plight," Tsunade said while biting her fingernail. "They decided among themselves that the mission was what they needed. As for Sai, I thought he had adjusted but…"

"So did I," Kakashi said. "I'm sure they will all function well in their tasks but somehow I feel uneasy to let it go at that."

"I agree. They were very eager to leave. In the past months, some of them have almost become dangerously unstable due to inactivity. Their minds have been conditioned that way, I'm afraid. Still, I feel like I'm giving up on them. We may not see any of them for years if at all."

"The longer they stay without connection to Konoha, the more their purpose for fighting will be ill-defined."

"Exactly. We don't need another Kabuto rising up from our ranks."

"I'll try to find out about Sai, Kakashi said. "He may be our closest link."

* * *

**End of Part I**

* * *

**Next: PART II ~****Friendship and Survival~**

******Author's Note: **

That TenzouXAnko thing probably equates to what is called "shipping", huh? It's born more out of my best wishes for these two awesome characters (strange as that may sound since they're fictional). They've had it really rough. I don't care about the pairing, though it does seem appropriate, I just want them to survive the war. *sob* Kishimoto-san, onegaishimasu!


	3. Part II

**PART II**

**Friendship and Survival**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"_**Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with." **_

- Mark Twain

**oooOOOooo**

A week passed after the Rangers' departure, then another week, then a month. Sasuke was finally allowed to leave the hospital but was still required to report for evaluation. Naruto and Sakura made sure they met up with him after.

Due to his key role during the war, Naruto not only gained the respect of the villagers and fellow shinobi but also gained the favor of all five Kages. He used the opportunity to appeal for leniency for his friend Sasuke.

At the last crucial moments of the war, Sasuke joined in fighting off the enemy. This earned him some consideration based on his own merits, an important factor considering his pride. He would not have allowed himself to be spared the punishment should he have been completely indebted to anyone.

Kakashi visited him at the hospital a few times since he was brought in. He judged the boy to be in stable condition though still somewhat struggling with his own guilt. For this reason, he would be in continued rehabilitation for an indefinite period. But over all, his progress was evident.

Tenzou greeted Kakashi inside the teahouse where they agreed to meet one morning.

"How's everything?" Kakashi asked.

"Senpai... It's been a month. Shouldn't you have talked to Naruto and Sakura by now?"

"I thought I'd confirm something first."

"Yes, I know. You're trying to find out how long Sai's absence will remain unnoticed. But the longer we wait…"

"Tenzou, I think it's time Team 7 have a little reunion."

**oooOOOooo**

Naruto met up with Sakura on the way to the barbeque place where they were to have lunch by invitation of Kakashi. Sasuke agreed to join them there directly after his appointment at the hospital.

"How rare for Kakashi-sensei to treat us to yakiniku eh? He better be ready, I'm suuuper hungry," Naruto said while rubbing his stomach.

"I bet he'll find some way to make Yamato-Taichou pay for everything," Sakura declared. Naruto nodded his agreement.

Tenzou was already inside seated at the farthest table when the two came in. A little while later, Sasuke joined them. Kakashi arrived thirty minutes later.

"Kakashi-Sensei, you're early!" Sakura said as Kakashi took a seat.

"He's forty-five minutes late," Tenzou grumbled as he took a sip from his third cup of tea.

"Yeah, but he's usually two hours late at least," Naruto quipped.

"True," Tenzou muttered. Sasuke managed to conceal a grin.

"Alright, you can order," Kakashi offered, ignoring the sarcasm.

"We just did," Naruto said with a smirk.

Sakura eyed the entrance. "I wonder when Sai's gonna get here."

"Now there's a guy who's never late. What's keeping him?" Naruto said.

Tenzou rested his arms on the table while holding his cup with both hands. "Sai's not coming," he informed casually then took a swig of tea.

"Huh? Why not?" Naruto asked.

"He's uh, not available," Tenzou replied, turning to Kakashi for guidance. His senpai did not look at him and instead discreetly observed the young ones' reactions.

"That Sai!" Naruto said visibly annoyed. "Making excuses. I'm gonna go and drag him out of his apartment right now." He got up from his seat and hurried out.

"Uh…" Tenzou began. "He-"

"I'm gonna go with you," Sakura said. "This is our first team reunion. That Sai's gonna get it." She followed Naruto to the exit. There was a moment of awkward silence on the table soon after.

"What's going on?" asked Sasuke suspiciously, sensing the odd passivity in Kakashi and Tenzou.

**oooOOOooo**

"Sai!" Sakura called as she banged on the apartment door. "Sai! Get your butt out here."

"Sai!" Naruto banged after her. A short while later, the door slid open.

"Sai! What happened to you?" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura gasped and put her hand in her mouth.

Naruto kneeled down by the entrance. "I'm sorry. I thought you were just trying to cop out. You should have told us."

"Does Tsunade-shishio know about this?" Sakura asked.

"Takeru?" Someone from inside called.

"Eh? Takeru?" Sakura and Naruto said at the same time.

"Who is it, Takeru?" A woman asked the little dark-haired boy who opened the door.

"Mama, strange people," the boy said.

"I thought Sai shrunk," Naruto said. But looking at the boy more carefully, all he had in common with Sai was his short black hair.

"Can I help you?" Takeru's mother asked.

"Uhm, Sai…I mean a shinobi named Sai…lives…here," Sakura said slowly as she looked about wondering if they knocked on the wrong door.

"I'm sorry. We just moved in a week ago. You might be referring to the old tenant," the woman said as she lifted her four-year old son up and carried him in her arms.

"Do you know where he moved?" Sakura asked.

"I'm sorry," was the reply. "The landlady might know."

The two thanked her then quickly proceeded downstairs.

"Ah Sai-kun, you mean?" the landlady said with recognition when asked about the shinobi who lived upstairs. "He left about a month ago."

"A month?"

"Yes. He paid his rent in full even though he had at least two weeks left. He's been a really good tenant."

"Did he tell you where he moved?"

"Hmm. He said he was going abroad. He didn't say where though."

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other at a complete loss.

"A mission maybe? But why should he have to move?" Sakura said. "The Hokage would know." Naruto agreed and they both thanked the landlady.

"Ah," the woman suddenly said as they were about to leave. "Are you Sai-kun's friends by any chance?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh good. Maybe you can help me."

The two exchanged confused looks again. The woman invited them in and then pointed at two boxes located in the farthest corner of the room.

"I didn't know what to do with them," she said.

The two walked over to the boxes and examined the contents.

"He asked me to throw them away for him. He left very early that day so he couldn't do it himself."

In one box, Sakura and Naruto immediately recognized the books that Sai accumulated as he studied people's behavior. The other box contained framed paintings as well as unframed ones, all undoubtedly done by Sai's hand.

The landlady walked over behind them. "When I saw what were inside, I really couldn't get rid of them. They're such nice pictures."

The heavy feeling steadily grew in their chests. Why would Sai get rid of the stuff with such finality? And why didn't he say goodbye?

"What was Sai thinking?" Naruto asked.

"We may not need to go to the Hokage," Sakura said after a while. "I think Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-Taichou already know."

Back at the barbeque place, Kakashi and Tenzou had finished relating Sai's departure to Sasuke.

"Is it my fault?" Sasuke asked somberly.

"Of course not," Kakashi assured. "Sai is uh…kind of…umm…different." But then he realized the word applied to just about every one of them. "Or should I say, each of us has his own way of dealing with things."

Kakashi sighed. None of the things he said were helpful in the least, he thought. Explanations with words were not his forte. There was a time when he was able to successfully teach the value of teamwork with a pair of small bells. The current situation seemed more complicated than his bells could manage. Sasuke, however, understood more than his teacher realized. He dealt with things quite differently for years which resulted to disastrous ends for many lives including his own.

"I didn't hear about the call for volunteers," Sasuke said after a moment.

"Someone from the old Root faction got wind of the mission soon after the last Kage meeting," Kakashi informed. "Enough number was gathered so there was no need to relay it to anyone else."

"It seems all ex-Root members insisted on joining," Tenzou added.

"But Sai did not need to join, correct?" Sasuke said.

"None of them needed to," Kakashi said. "They seem to be undergoing a few things that we have overlooked."

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called when he reached the table after he got back. Sakura stood beside him.

"Tell us what's going on," Sakura finished for him.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

******oooOOOooo**

"_**Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival."**_

C.S. Lewis

**oooOOOooo**

Everyone agreed that they were oblivious to Sai's state of mind within the past few months.

"I guess we haven't checked on him even once after he declined our last group dinner invitation," Sakura said.

"Well none of you are obligated to check up on him," Tenzou assured. "He's not a child."

"Yeah, but still…"

"I don't think it's anyone's fault that Sai arrived at his decision," Kakashi offered. "Neither is it necessarily a bad thing. People part ways all the time."

"Well he could've at least said goodbye," Naruto said resentfully.

"Sai may have found it difficult to," Tenzou said. "He uh…he said he still had not learned the protocol among…_ex_-comrades."

"Ex-comrades?" Sakura and Naruto blurted out at the same time. Tenzou somewhat expected the reaction to his little emphasis.

"Is that all we are to him?" Sakura asked indignantly.

"Sakura," it was Sasuke's turn to speak. "I'd expect Naruto to be thick but not you."

"Hey!" Naruto protested.

"You're right," Sakura said sadly. "Sai's been gone for a month and we didn't even notice. Some friends we are." Both she and Naruto fell quiet.

"_Friend_, now there's an interesting word," Kakashi said noting that Sakura used _nakama _but meant the other word. They all looked at him. He fished out a familiar instrument from inside his pants pocket. The three young shinobi gazed at the pair of bells on the table with significant recollection.

"These bells once taught you the importance of teamwork as a means of survival." Kakashi said. "But in life, there are far more important things than survival."

_More important things than survival._

Naruto couldn't get those words out of his head even as he lay in bed the same night with eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. He knew perfectly well the truth in what Kakashi-sensei said. He fought all he could, not to survive, but because his friends were the most valuable thing to him. Why were they valuable?

As an orphan and a jinchuuriki, the loneliness he suffered in his early days was unbearably hard. It was the very reason why he desperately tried to search for connection. He survived well enough on his own. He woke up in the same manner each day, he ate, he went to school, he trudged along…he survived. Was Sai just trying to survive all this time?

When Naruto heard the word ex-comrade from Yamato-Taichou, it seriously bothered him. Did they really make Sai feel he was no longer part of the team?

"_And when Sasuke returns, I'll be able to leave Team Kakashi, right?"_ he remembered Sai say after a duel Naruto initiated one night during their first mission. And what was his reply?

"_Yeah, I can't wait."_

It can't be that, Naruto thought. They've been through a lot since then, a whole lot. But snippets of more recent events flashed across his mind.

Once, they questioned Sai's loyalty right after Danzo claimed the position of Hokage. That's when Sai revealed his curse mark. Their insinuations must have stressed how they still didn't trust Sai fully even after all they've been through, Naruto thought.

Then there was a time when Sai blocked Karui's fist from landing on Naruto when he offered to take the blame for Sasuke.

"_Naruto, you don't have to get punched for Sasuke's sake. He keeps hurting you over and over. If I were you…"_

"_Sai, stay out of this."_

Naruto's heart sank deeper. He knew Sai did it out of concern as a friend but was dismissed just like that. Did those incidents contribute to his sense of detachment? Naruto was no stranger to the feeling. It was for that reason he could identify with others like him, Gaara, Bee... But why not Sai? They were both orphans…What was different?

In the day's meeting, Sasuke shared something that none of them knew until then. "Sai said something to me when we met at Orochimaru's hide-out. '_Even when I force myself to smile, it seems I'm the type of person who ends up being hated.' _I didn't care about it then but I somehow remember it now. I don't know if that has any significance in this case."

Naruto recalled the days when he had to endure the hateful glares from adults and the taunts and laughter from kids. No matter what he did, they still ended up hating him. Despite it all, he worked to gain everyone's attention. He was determined to be acknowledged and he succeeded.

"I guess Sai had his share of hateful glares and taunts," Naruto said to himself. "From us," he added as he remembered the beginning of their relationship. But then he realized that unlike him, Sai didn't try to get attention for himself. He was raised to have absolutely no self-worth to even think of being acknowledged. He was treated as nothing more than a tool by Danzo.

"_I don't exist,"_ Sai once said with indifference. It was his way of life, and it might have been a life far worse than having a monster living inside him. Yet despite that, Naruto personally witnessed the change in the shinobi when he finished his picture book. It was then that Sai took command of his own existence and decided to fight on their side.

Now that Sai finally learned that he, in fact, existed, did his own friends unwittingly wrench that knowledge away from him? Naruto tried to recall the last time he'd seen him. They were together for two or three group dinners but he couldn't remember if they even talked. Sai was just…there...

Naruto thought back again to his own situation as a child. He was able to endure everything they threw at him up until they started to treat him like he was…invisible. It was then that he gave up and ran away. If not for Iruka-sensei, he wouldn't have gone back. Did Sai feel invisible? Naruto's heart ached at the thought. They were the same after all.

"If Sai ran away, then I must get him back just like Iruka-sensei did with me."

* * *

**Chapter 7**

* * *

******oooOOOooo**

**There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself-an enemy who has lost his temper **

**and a friend who loves you dearly.**

Antishenes

**oooOOOooo**

Early the next day, Naruto went straight to Ichiraku Ramen to meet his teammates as agreed.

"Lost sleep too, huh?" Naruto said to Sakura who was standing in front of the shop with Sasuke.

"Oh no! I must look horrible!" Sakura gasped as her palms clapped her cheeks.

Indeed, she was up all of the previous night. She did nothing but sit on the floor of her bedroom and go through the contents of the two boxes from Sai's apartment that she volunteered to take home with her. She took one picture at a time from one box and examined them carefully, all the while recalling her often odd interaction with the artist nin.

"_An abstract. What's the title?"_

"_It doesn't have one."_

"_But don't pictures usually have titles?_

"_To be exact, I'm not able to even if I try to think of one. Nothing comes to mind. I don't feel anything."_

Sakura turned to the second box and flipped through pages of his books.

_"A smile can get you out of a tough situation. I read that in a book."_

Back then she was quite livid over his attitude and was sure she would not get along with him.

"_Forgive Naruto, ok?" __***Wham* **_A straight right across his cheek. "_On the other hand, I don't care if you don't forgive me."_

"_You tricked me," _he said._ "With that fake smile earlier."_

Sakura smiled as she thought of that incident from their first mission together while continuing to flip through his books. Just like with Naruto, she had since displayed a sort of motherly attitude toward Sai, often scolding him for the injuries he sustained during battles and for the strange books he often read. But in crucial moments, it seemed to her that it was Sai who offered a more mature and straight-forward insight on things.

"_I was only recently assigned to Team 7 in place of Sasuke so I still don't know all of you that well. And I'm not good at understanding people's feelings… I don't know what promise he made you but even I can tell that Naruto loves you._

_He's been shouldering that burden of his promise to you. He intends to carry that burden for the rest of his life. I don't know what you told Naruto. But it's no different from what was done to me. It's like a curse mark. The source of Naruto's agony is Sasuke but aren't you a part of it too?"_

Sai's words then jolted her out of her selfish delusions. And even though it ended badly with her impulsive actions, she was grateful to Sai for openly rebuking her like a real friend should.

"_Lately when I look at Naruto I've been able to feel it… his sadness… For Naruto's sake, for Konoha's sake, we need to do something ourselves instead of always relying on him."_

"He started from feeling nothing to being quite a sensitive guy", Sakura thought. She realized that Sai noticed a lot of things other people didn't. He could also think independently despite Danzo's indoctrination. Otherwise, he would have obeyed the order to assassinate Sasuke no matter what happened. His composure also saved their lives numerous times during missions.

"Sai… _what_ the hell happened?"

And so just like Naruto, Sakura spent a sleepless night. Her fingers traced the bags that formed under her eyes. She glanced consciously sideways at Sasuke.

"Aah! No, no, you still look pretty, Sakura-chan!" Naruto assured noticing her concern.

Sasuke pretended to ignore the exchange. "According to Teuchi-san, Sai had dinner here a month ago. The date he mentioned was the night before he left."

"Did Sai say anything to him?" Naruto asked.

"No," Sakura replied sadly. "He still doesn't know Sai's gone."

Sakura gazed at Sasuke a little longer than she intended. Once again she remembered something about Sai.

"_You don't know anything about Sasuke. Don't talk bad about him in front of me again or I'll thrash you for real next time."_

"_Fine. I won't say anything about him in front of you."_

"_Sasuke was like a brother to Naruto. If you have a brother you should understand."_

"_Not really. He's already dead. Maybe I should have looked like that," _he said referring to Naruto's morose expression at the time as he stood with his back to them not far off.

"_Huh_?" Sakura asked then with no idea what he meant.

"_When he died, I didn't know what kind of expression to make."_

"Even to this day, Sai's still bad at facial expressions", she thought. Recalling their last few meetings, he seemed to her even less expressive of late, even in speech. They had gotten too used to his vague demeanor that they failed to notice any problems. "He must've been carrying a burden that we didn't know about and we were too insensitive to notice," she thought further. "We just got Sasuke back and now…"

"Yosh!" Naruto exclaimed while punching his left palm with his right fist. "Ready to go and get him?"

"Don't be hasty," Sasuke said. "We have no idea where he is."

"For starters, we have to tell Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.

"Good idea!" Naruto eyes brightened. "We can ask him to get Pakkun to help with the search."

"Pakkun's on vacation."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura jumped when the jounin suddenly spoke from behind them. He's leaning on the wall of Ichiraku Ramen.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted with his palm up.

"How can Pakkun be on vacation?" Naruto asked.

"Why can he not be?" Kakashi asked rhetorically.

"Does that mean all the dogs are on vacation?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi's smiling eyes answered in the positive.

"Then I guess we'll have to ask Team 8 for help," Naruto said.

"The Inuzukas are also on a pleasure trip somewhere," Kakashi said.

"Wow, all the dogs really _are_ on vacation," Naruto said.

Sakura sighed. "I heard the Aburames are on a month long retreat to some insect habitat."

"Don't tell me the Hyuugas are off somewhere too!" Naruto said.

"They're here," Sakura said. "But Hinata told me they will all be under strict training until missions start again."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke began, "Do you have any idea where Sai is?"

"No," was the curt reply. "And are you allowed to go out of Konoha yet, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's gaze dropped to the ground. "I was hoping you can put in a good word for me…I want to uh…help."

Naruto and Sakura silently acknowledged him with gratefulness. Their sensei was heartened but did not show it. Sasuke had changed indeed. Even his younger self wouldn't have volunteered openly for such a task. Kakashi started to walk away while speaking. The three instinctively followed him.

"I think I understand what you want to do but are you sure it's the right thing?"

"Of course it is," Sakura said trying to keep her pace with him. "We've been really insensitive. I still can't believe we didn't notice he was gone for a whole month."

"Don't beat yourselves up about it," Kakashi said. "He's not a rogue nin, he's gone on a mission-"

"Yes, but-" Naruto protested.

"Sai also went through a lot during the last war," Kakashi continued. "For all we know, his decision had nothing at all to do with you."

"It doesn't matter if it's not about us," Naruto said. "We've been through a lot together for him to just go without a word. We can't just let him go off somewhere without making sure he's okay."

"You did say he might not come back, right, Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi nodded.

"Naruto's right," Sakura said. "It doesn't matter if Sai's reasons have nothing to do with us. We just want to let him know we're his friends."

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. That's what he wanted to hear.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

* * *

******oooOOOooo**

"_**He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man."**_

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

**oooOOOooo**

"Senbei?" the three young ninjas said at the same time. Kakashi was actually leading them straight to Tenzou's apartment while conversing on the road. They found themselves at Tenzou's front door where they were greeted by their captain as if they had been expected.

"Yes, I gave Sai two packs of senbei with tracers in them," Tenzou explained inside his residence.

"Aah! I remember you did a similar thing on our first mission!" Naruto exclaimed.

"That's right!" Sakura said as it dawned on her. "We were able to track Sai that time."

"So you intended to go after him from the beginning, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said.

"You were just testing us, weren't you?" Naruto asked irritably.

"You're really mean, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura grumbled.

"If you were only compelled to find him out of guilt, tracking him would be meaningless," Kakashi said.

"Unfortunately," Tenzou cut in. "The tracers embedded in each cracker will only last for 35 days once consumed."

"What?" Sakura asked with concern. "So if Sai ate them all on the first day, the signal would only last four days at this point!"

Tenzou sighed. He wanted to give Kakashi a whack on the head for waiting a month to act. He wouldn't be able to sense the signal until they were at least five hundred kilometers away from where it was. Who knows where that would be so far out of the country, he thought.

"Now, now," Kakashi said as he held his palm up to assure them. "Sai is not Chouji, or Naruto for that matter. It's likely he'll take his time consuming all forty crackers."

"Kakashi-sensei, how could you put me in the same eating level as Chouji?"

"Mmph," Sakura muffled a snicker to Naruto's chagrin.

"In any case," Tenzou said. "We are cutting it close. The signal also becomes very faint as the days pass."

"In that case, we really have to go," Sakura said. Her teammates agreed.

"Kakashi-sensei, I can go with you right?" Sasuke asked hopefully.

Kakashi considered the request. "I'll go and ask the Hokage. Should she give her permission, it'll still be just the four of you."

"You're not coming with us?" Naruto asked.

"I have to see to the new batch of genin from Iruka's class," Kakashi replied. "I'm afraid it is that time again. Pretty soon, you'll all be taking your turn to officially train the younger ones."

Kakashi and Tenzou observed the three as reality sunk in. They were no longer children. This latest quest would be an important adventure. The lessons they could learn from it would serve as a precious nugget to the treasure trove of experience they could pass on to the next generation of Konoha shinobi. At least, therein lay their superiors' hopes.

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke waited outside the Hokage's building for Kakashi to come out with permission to let Sasuke join in the search. They breathed a sigh of relief when he came out with Tsunade's approval. They were psyching themselves up to go in and beg the Hokage themselves had she refused.

It was after sunset when they set out from Konoha's main gate with Tenzou. Kakashi saw them off and wished them good luck. From the message that Tsunade got from the Alliance Commander, the Shinobi Rangers reported for duty and were sent out to patrol the borders three and a half weeks prior. There was a wide territory to cover. Team 7's best starting point would be Sunagakure from where the Rangers got their instructions. The journey slashed two days from their limited schedule.

"Well, here's hoping Sai has a few more tracers left in his system," Sakura said before they took off.

Gaara greeted the team warmly when they entered Sunagakure's main hall. There was a moment of awkward silence when Sasuke met the Kazekage's gaze. Upon learning the group's intent, Gaara nodded in understanding. Deep inside, he still marveled at Naruto's constant dilemma of finding missing friends. Both he and Sasuke were once objects of that fierce loyalty and determination. He was unsure as to the circumstances in this case but he would gladly do what he could to help.

"We have gathered a total of forty one volunteers from all five great countries," Gaara said. "I did notice that Konoha had the largest number. Unfortunately, we won't hear from them until after five months unless something urgent happens. I expect them to be scattered far along the borders by now."

He spread out a map and pointed at the possible routes the rangers took. "All the volunteers have very impressive credentials so it was decided to let them have the prerogative in deciding their location and surveillance tactics. The less people know of their whereabouts, the safer it is for everyone." All of them understood. It was how shinobi operated most effectively after all. And considering most of the rangers originated from Root did not increase the chances of them getting found so easily.

"Ooh it's been a long time!" someone said cheerfully from behind as he entered Gaara's office.

"Kankuro!" Naruto and Sakura greeted.

"What brings you all here? Come to take a tour of Suna's tourist spots? We do have them, you know."

"Haha! Not this time," Naruto replied. "We're looking for Sai."

"Aah. I saw him before he left from here. Is there a problem?"

"Uhm, he kinda just took off without a word and we're worried about him," Sakura replied. "It's hard to explain actually."

Kankuro tried to recall his meeting with the shinobi in question, "Hmm, he seemed fine to me," he said. "Compared to how he was during the war, that is."

The team exchanged looks. What did Kankuro mean by that last bit?

"Sai was a member of the Surprise Attack Division led by Kankuro-san," Tenzou explained noticing their surprise. For some reason, he had spent most of his recovery days chronicling the events of the war. "They were the first to engage the enemy, if I'm not mistaken."

"We sure were," Kankuro said with a proud air. "We started the winning streak, you know." Gaara shook his head apologetically. His older brother wouldn't stop bragging about that moment since the war ended.

"I was aware that he was a part of that Division," Sakura said. "We at the Third responded to a distress call from them when they faced Zabuza and later the Seven Swordsmen."

"Oh yeah," Kankuro confirmed. "We split up after our first encounter with the enemy and they somehow ended up with that lot."

"So, what about Sai?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Kabuto revived the dead, right?" Kankuro began. "We were somehow matched against those with some kind of personal relation to us. I got Sasori-dono."

"Team 10 had to fight against Asuma-sensei. It must have been really tough for them," Sakura said.

"Don't tell me Sai… " Tenzou said.

"He went against his brother," Kankuro said. "At least I believe he's his brother. He called him Nii-san."

At the word, Sasuke remembered his older brother Itachi whom he also met again during war. Such meetings were very tough moments indeed. Naruto, Sakura and Tenzou exchanged looks of understanding at the implication of Sai's encounter.

* * *

**End of Part II**

* * *

**Next:** **PART III ~ ****Journey and Discovery ~**


	4. Part III

**PART III**

**Journey and Discovery**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"**All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered;**

**The point is to discover them."**

Galileo Galilei

**oooOOOooo**

Kankuro proceeded to relate how Shin had Deidara's explosive clay embedded in him while he was used as a puppet by Sasori. "He exploded right in front of us and then quickly regenerated." The team listened carefully at the details and imagined how it was. "Deidara mocked Sai and promised to keep blowing up his brother over and over," Kankuro continued.

"That bastard Deidara!" Naruto muttered.

"Yeah, Sai was pretty furious," Kankuro said.

"Sai? Furious?" Naruto and Sakura both shared the same reaction. They found it hard to imagine how he looked with such an extreme emotion bursting out of him.

"Yeah, the guy conjured up the Benevolent Kings, no less, with that ink jutsu of his," Kankuro said. "Sent both Sasori and Deidara tumbling down. That made it possible for me to bind them. I have to admit it was kinda cool."

They were quite amazed more at the emotional aspect of it all. Kankuro was still relating his story enthusiastically but their minds were already trying to imagine how hard it must have been for Sai. And then Kankuro got to the last part which surprised them even more.

"-I got Sasori-dono's blessing to use his puppets before he disappeared. I saw Sai not far off," he said. The team's attention turned to the narrator again. "Somehow, he was spared from fighting with his brother any further. I saw him pick up this little book from the ground and he stared at it for a long while." He made a gesture with his thumb and forefinger to describe how small the book was. "I'm pretty sure he had tears in his eyes."

Tears. Sai was crying. It was almost as hard to imagine as the artist nin showing anger.

"His picture book," Naruto said. "I wonder if his brother got to see it."

"He must have, oh I wish he did," Sakura said with tears in her eyes. "Sai always wished his brother would see the finished book."

"I'm sure he did. It must have freed his brother!" Naruto said.

They felt strange feeling both happy and sad for Sai at the same time.

"He never told us any of this," Sakura sighed.

_When he died, I didn't know what kind of expression to make. S_he remembered Sai's words again from long ago.

"Well he didn't strike me as the sharing type," Kankuro said. "We split up soon after. It's been a really long hard-fought war."

"He's most likely been grieving for his brother all this time," Sasuke finally said. He never imagined actually relating to someone like Sai but he did at that moment.

The team agreed they had a better understanding on Sai's state of mind but they still had nothing much to go on as far as finding him was concerned.

"Should I get word from any of them, I'll make sure to let you know," the Kazekage promised. The team was grateful for his kindness.

For their part, to wait another day was not an option. Missions would start again after a month which would deny them another chance to seek out their friend. They left Sunagakure the same day armed with a map that Gaara provided them.

When they reached the border northeast of Wind Country after half a day's journey, Tenzou suddenly stopped in his tracks. The others looked quizzically at him. "I can feel it, it's pretty strong!" he said.

"You mean the tracer?" Sakura asked to which Tenzou nodded. He moved quickly toward the direction of the signal. The others eagerly followed but then he stopped again and faced the other way.

"Yamato-taichou?" Sakura asked noting the puzzled look on their captain's face. He did not respond. After a moment's pondering, he proceeded toward his initial direction. The others followed suit. They entered the woods as it was getting dark.

"It's much closer," Tenzou declared as they continued to make their way along the trees. "Almost there," he said to himself after another hour.

Just when they believed they were just a stone's throw away from the signal's origin, a masked female shinobi attacked with a barrage of kunais from out of nowhere. The team dodged the assault and was about to take the offensive when another masked shinobi came between them. "Stop! They are from Konoha," he said to his companion who was standing on top of a tree branch.

The female shinobi landed on the ground directly in front of the team. "Yeah, I kinda figured with their headband and all," she said.

The shinobi who was still in the middle removed his mask and revealed his face with the same Konoha headband on his forehead. Tenzou recognized him as one of the ex-Root members who volunteered for the Shinobi Rangers.

"Kusari-san, right?" Tenzou asked. He noticed that the man was surprised upon hearing his adopted name. "I tried to memorize your faces when the Hokage called out your names before you left Konoha," he explained. His team looked at their captain with renewed admiration.

Kusari turned to his companion and asked, "If you knew they are from Konoha, why did you attack?"

"I wasn't aiming to kill or anything. I was bored. I heard Konoha shinobi are really strong," was the reply. At this, Kusari contorted his brow. He was constantly bewildered by this woman's attitude since they were assigned together. He looked at the new arrivals and settled on the lone female. He recognized her as Haruno Sakura from the files. "Are all women this strange?" he asked.

Tenzou wasn't sure how to respond. Sasuke grinned. "Heck yeah," Naruto said without hesitation. Sakura glared at him. "Ah except you Sakura-chan." Right then a punch from Sakura sent him flying backwards. He smashed into a tree which almost got uprooted due to the force of the blow.

Tenzou's eye twitched. Kusari's mouth gaped. He just couldn't make sense of women at all. And he didn't know how to insult them in turn because they had no pe- *ahurm* to insult.

"Wow, that is some punch!" the female ranger exclaimed visibly impressed. She removed her mask to reveal her headband with the Kirigakure symbol.

"_Aak! What did you do? Sasuke's watching!"_ Inner Sakura scolded. "_How very unlady-like of you_!"

"Uhm, sorry about that," Sakura said embarrassed. Her fellow Konohans just stared at her. The shinobi from Water Country still had a wide amused grin on her face.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"**Life is uncharted territory. ****It reveals its story one moment at a time."**

Leo F. Buscaglia

**oooOOOooo**

"Aaaah…" Kama, the female ranger, sighed lazily then proceeded to the nearby tree and sat down. She rested her back against the trunk and folded her hands behind her head. The sun had already set. "And I thought it was important," She said after the team relayed their intentions. "You sure have a lot of time on your hands."

"To us, it's important," Naruto said patiently. They had told the two rangers they were looking for Sai for personal reasons.

Tenzou was the most confused out of everyone. Sai was not there and yet he could feel the tracer very strongly. "I gave Sai two packs of senbei before your departure," he informed Kusari quite hesitantly. He was not comfortable revealing that information to just anyone.

"You mean this?" Kusari asked as he fished out one small pack from his pouch to the team's surprise.

"You had that all this time?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, Sai gave it to me."

Naruto scratched his head. "And you haven't eaten it yet?"

"I couldn't," Kusari said with all seriousness. "It's the first time anyone has given me anything."

The team was touched by the sentiment. It was another insight into the kind of life Root shinobi led. Such seemingly insignificant gesture as giving a pack of crackers would go unappreciated by the rest of them. How easily one takes small acts of kindness for granted when one experiences it often enough, they realized.

"Isn't he interesting?" Kama quipped. "I ate mine as soon as I got it."

The team turned to her. "He gave you one too?" Sakura asked.

According to Kusari, all the volunteers met at Sunagakure and then split up in pairs. Each one had a senbei with him.

"Such grim-looking bunch these Konoha rangers," Kama said. "But that Sai-guy had a weird smile on his face, he kinda freaked me out."

"Aren't there forty-one volunteers?" Sakura asked remembering the information given by Gaara.

"And there are only forty senbei," Sasuke said quite sure Sai didn't keep one for himself.

"Does that mean one group went out as a team of three?" Tenzou asked hopefully. If that was the case, there was a good chance they'd find him soon enough.

Kusari began to eye them suspiciously then looked down on the senbei in his hand. "Is this how you found us?" he asked as he held the cracker up.

"What?" Kama was suddenly on her feet. "Hey hey! Did that Sai-"

"It's not what you think," Tenzou quickly replied. "I'm sure Sai didn't know there were tracers in them."

"How can you be so sure? Kama asked angrily. "Since he gave them out, he obviously doesn't want to be found. He intended to give you the run-around but at our expense."

"But," Sasuke began, "if he's with two of the other rangers-"

"There you go," Kama cut him. "It was he who suggested each one from Konoha pair up with one from the other villages then he went off on his own."

"What?" the others exclaimed in unison.

"No," Kusari said. "He would not do anything to jeopardize the mission. I'm sure he didn't know about the tracer."

"Oh because you two are such close buddies that you know him so well?" Kama said sarcastically. Sakura wanted to hit her.

"Dagger?" Kusari asked confused. Kama had used an old word "aikuchi" for buddy which also meant dagger.

"She meant…_friend_," Sakura said helpfully though she was sure it wasn't Kusari's reason for his confident claim. She was right. Kusari began to explain.

"Not one from Root will intentionally endanger a comrade unless…"

"Unless?" Kama asked.

"Unless it means success for the mission," Kusari continued. "The success of the mission will always be the only priority. That is our pride and honor in Root. In this case, I don't see any call for it."

"Sheesh. So that means you'll willingly kill your comrade if your mission calls for it, eh? That's cold," Kama said. The others had to agree though they already knew that was how it was for those under the late Danzo. At least they knew Sai strayed from that policy a long time ago.

"Anyway," Kama said. "What they did puts us at risk. If anyone finds out about those tracers, our positions will be in jeopardy!"

"Calm down, the tracer only works 35 days once consumed," Naruto assured.

"Unless those other Konoha guys are like Mr. Sentimental here," Kama countered irritably.

"Ulp!" was all Naruto could utter. Could it be possible, he asked himself.

"I'm the only one who can sense the tracers," Tenzou finally said to Naruto's relief.

"Well then, all it takes is for someone to get a hold of ya, huh?" Kama said sarcastically eyeing Tenzou from head to toe. "Looks easy enough."

WHAM!

"Ow!" Kama squirmed. Sakura's punch hit her straight on the left cheek.

"You have no idea who you're talking to," Sakura said. "All throughout the war, Yamato-taichou-".

"Sakura," Tenzou interrupted. "She's right. It was reckless of me. I didn't expect Sai would hand them out, at least, not all of them. We have to be extra careful from now on." They were all quiet then.

"At any rate, it clears one thing up," Tenzou said to their curiosity. "When I started to follow the first signal, I sensed another strong one from the opposite direction."

Kama slapped her forehead. Her concern was proven valid. It meant another Konoha ranger chose not to eat his senbei.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to follow all the signals. Someone has to have some knowledge of where Sai went off to," Naruto said confidently.

"Right," Sasuke agreed. "There's no use lingering around here. We have to get to that second signal."

"No need," Tenzou said. "I followed this one because it was stronger. But I had my clone follow the second one. It should reach the source before midnight."

"That's Yamato-taichou for ya!" Naruto said happily. "We can proceed to the third one then."

Tenzou bowed to the two rangers. "I apologize for the trouble. We will be off then."

"We can't stay here either," Kama said. "Hey Kusari, get rid of that senbei. We're going."

Kusari stared at the cracker still enclosed in its plastic wrapping. He never felt so disappointed in his life. Something that made him feel good turned out to be…

Team 7 understood his reaction and felt bad for him. Right then, Tenzou formed a seal with his hands. "Mokuton Shichūka no Jutsu." A wooden house suddenly rose up from the ground.

"Wood technique!" Kama's eyes widened in disbelief. "That means you're-"

"It's cold this evening," Tenzou said to the two rangers. "You should stay in there tonight. I'll leave it up till break of dawn. It has a barrier so you should be safe." Then he faced Kama directly. "I was captured once and though I preferred to die rather than give out intel, it was somehow extracted from me while I was unconscious. It caused my friends trouble which I still regret. But I swear it will never happen again."

"I uh," Kama wanted to apologize. The man before him was considered one of the war's heroes. She was never good with names but the man's reputation made him identifiable by the special jutsu she just witnessed.

Tenzou then turned to Kusari. "Kusari-san, I think you should hold on to the senbei," he said. "I believe Sai gave it to you in a sincere gesture of friendship." Kusari clasped the cracker firmly. "Also," Tenzou continued. "The Hokage and all of us have been concerned about all of you, not just Sai. So until we figure out a safer way to get in touch, don't eat it just yet."

"That's right," Naruto said with a big smile. "And when you come home. I'll treat you to ramen!"

"Ramen?" Sakura said. "Offer, yakiniku at least!"

"But I love ramen…"

Kusari felt particularly pleasant at that moment. It was almost the same feeling as when he first received the senbei. He still did not know what to make of it but he held on tightly to the cracker before putting it back in his pouch.

Tenzou addressed the two rangers again. "Don't worry about the info leaking out. The enemy we faced during the war was unusually strong but I'm really not that easy to capture."

Kama felt ashamed that the distinguished shinobi had to explain to her.

"Besides," Tenzou continued. "I have those three with me."

Kusari nodded in understanding. Kama wondered who those three really were. Kusari would fill her in later that day. Their relationship would change for the better after that.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

**"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:**

**If one falls down, his friend can help him up."**

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

**oooOOOooo**

The team had traveled another five hundred kilometers before Tenzou sensed the third signal northeast between Wind and Earth. By that time, it was nearing midnight. They decided to stop and rest inside an inn within the nearest town. Tenzou's clone reached the source of the second signal and confirmed what they already expected.

"The ranger has no idea where Sai is. The senbei is still in its wrapper," Tenzou said.

"They really are surprisingly sentimental," Sakura said.

"Maybe he's okay after all," Sasuke offered. He faced his teammates to explain his thoughts. "You heard what Kama said. "Sai had a smile on his face back at Sunagakure."

"She said he had a _weird_ smile on his face," Naruto corrected. Sasuke didn't know the difference.

"If Sai had a weird smile, it means he's faking it," Sakura explained. "We've been able to tell the difference over the years."

Sasuke realized his replacement had actually worked with Team 7 on missions longer than he had. "So it's possible he really knew about the tracers and meant to lose them?"

"Well we did track him once in a similar way on our first mission together," Sakura said.

Tenzou folded his arms as he recalled how slyly Sai caught him during their drill training in preparation for meeting Sasori's spy. "I've known from that time how sharp he was. This time though, I was betting more on his trust when I gave him the senbei."

"So it's likely he really meant to lose the tracers," Sasuke said. "He could've just left the whole pack somewhere at one time but chose to make the search more difficult by confusing the trail. But why?"

Naruto shook his head. "Yamato-taichou's right. I don't think he's aware of the tracers. He definitely gave those senbei out in a gesture of friendship. That's what I believe."

"But why did he set out alone?" Sakura asked.

"My clone asked the last ranger about that," Tenzou said. "They were originally planning on each one going alone to cover more territory. Sai suggested it would be safer to travel in pairs. All in all they had twenty with one extra. But then there are about thirty crucial points to monitor. One going out alone would narrow the gap between uncovered areas. Sai had the fastest means of getting word out because of his aerial ability so he volunteered to be that one."

"Stupid Sai," Sakura muttered. "Thinking he can do everything alone."

Sasuke pretended he didn't hear her. He wondered how often Sakura had said that about him in the past.

After a quick dinner, the team went to sleep. They woke up after three hours and headed out to the direction of the signal again.

"Let me guess, Sai gave you senbei and you haven't eaten it yet," Tenzou said to the ranger when they found him within the swamp lands in the middle of Earth and Wind. It was barely two hours before dawn. They were trudging through a foot deep of muddy water. Gnarled vines hung eerily above them while various pairs of glowing eyes emanated from creatures darting in and out of the vegetation on both sides.

The shinobi took out the pack from his pouch and showed it to them. He took off his mask and he smiled a weird-looking smile.

"Geh!" was all Naruto could say. The smile was ridiculously familiar.

"He has a strange influence on his fellow Root comrades, doesn't he?" Sasuke noted referring to their still missing target. The others had to agree.

"AAAAAA!" Naruto suddenly screamed. A five-inch mosquito just attacked his leg. It felt like he was being stabbed as its three-inch proboscis penetrated through his skin.

Hari, the ranger with the weird smile, immediately took out a wooden tube-like instrument and blew out a sharp needle straight at the giant mosquito's bloated abdomen. The creature withdrew from Naruto's leg, wriggled its body in pain and exploded, splattering thick dark muck on the already muddy ground.

Hoko, Hari's partner from Iwagakure, then rushed to Naruto and pierced the jinchuuriki's leg with his spear. "Aaaaaa!" Naruto screamed again. "Stay still," Hoko demanded. He then poured a powdery substance on the wound. Naruto felt its heat as it seeped through his skin preventing any poison from spreading further into his bloodstream.

"There are many dangerous creatures in these swamps. Be careful," Hari said then flashed his unsettling smile again. Sakura rushed to Naruto and examined the fast healing wound.

"That is quite the combination you two have," Tenzou said to the rangers.

"Quite lucky that Hari specializes in shooting poisoned darts while I develop both poison and antidote," Hoko said.

"Luck? Maybe it's fate," Sakura suggested with a grin. Once again, the pairing idea was proving to be a good move.

"Well, it was definitely lucky for me," Naruto said, still wincing a little as Sakura helped him up.

"That's three down, seventeen to go," Sasuke said after a moment. "Any other traces, Yamato-taichou?"

"None from here," was the reply. "But our only path is straight west until we reach the edge of Earth. We're bound to find something along the way."

"Hari," Naruto called. "Are you sure you don't have any idea where Sai headed? You must have talked to him some, right? Considering you…uh…smile…like…him."

"Bwahahaha!" Hoko chuckled. "I told him he should practice in front of a mirror."

"There is no mirror here. I won't see myself until we get out of the swamps and reach clear water. But that is not the priority now."

"He's taking this smiling business quite seriously," Hoko said. The team noted the comfortable exchange as if they were long-time friends. Hari straightened his face and addressed them again about Sai.

"We talked briefly," he related. "He gave me the senbei. 'In case you get hungry,' he said."

"That's what I said to him when I gave him the pack," Tenzou supplied. Hari continued.

"Then he gave me another. He suggested I give it to whoever I get partnered with. He told me to try smiling when I do."

"Haha, yeah, I could've done without the weird smile but I appreciated the senbei. I was hungry at the time," Hoko filled in. "I hit it off with this guy right away after that."

"So, Sai didn't give Hoko the senbei directly," Sakura mused aloud.

"Hmm, now that I think about it, Kama didn't say she got it directly from Sai," Sasuke said. "She only said she ate it as soon as she got it."

"Now that you mention it, I didn't get a reply when I asked her if Sai gave her one," Sakura said.

Naruto turned to Hari for confirmation. "So Sai gave the crackers to the other Root members to give out to their partners?"

"Yes. The pairing was to be decided the next day. He gave it to us after dinner the night before. He said it was probably a good way to make…friends." He said the last word with a hint of awkwardness.

Hoko chuckled again. "That kinda reminds me of my pre-school days."

Hari considered the comment. Pre-school definitely referred to children. Was he being insulted? Hoko noticed and quickly buckled.

"Oh hey hey, I just meant, it's been a while since I witnessed anything that, uh, pure. It's all good, Hari," he assured, tapping the other man on the shoulder. "I really did appreciate it."

For the team, Sai's motive was becoming vaguer with each discovery. Was he or wasn't he aware of the tracers? In any case, his initiative seemed to be working out for the good of his comrades in Root. They bid the rangers goodbye. As they walked away, they over-heard the two as they exchanged banter.

"Pre-school, huh? _You_ need to go back to pre-school. Your brain is as small as your chinchin," Hari quipped with a straight face then smiled his weird smile.

"Oh-hoh, is that so?" Hoko replied. "Well yours is as strange-looking as your smile."

Sakura fought the urge to look back. Her face was as red as her shirt.

"So they're all like that in Root," Naruto said uncomfortably. "And they're spreading it." He was half-expecting his female companion to head back any second and kill the two rangers behind them.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"**Understanding is the first step to acceptance,**

**and only with acceptance can there be recovery."**

**-Sirius Black**

JK Rowling

**oooOOOooo**

Three weeks and two days had passed since Team 7 first set out from Sunagakure. They had traveled what seemed like an immeasurable distance, going back and forth twice along the edges of Earth and Wind Countries from the west front. They even strayed off outside allied territories a few times whenever Tenzou sensed a signal from farther off.

Within that period, they were able to track a total of eleven signals coming from rangers hiding out in the most difficult locations they could imagine. For a second time, Tenzou was able to sense two signals at the same time so he sent a clone to track one while the team headed for the other. Yet the outcome was the same-no knowledge of Sai's whereabouts. What was evident was the bond between each pair they met, albeit, in varying degrees and oddities.

A Root Shinobi named Sasumata had the uncanny ability to understand his partner Houshito from Suna who did not speak at all. Houshito was a two-war veteran who had his tongue cut off as a child. He used to work alone because other shinobi found him difficult to comprehend.

"It's not that hard," Sasumata said about his ability. "We didn't need to speak much in Root either."

Houshito was from a poor family that couldn't afford to send him to school to learn sign language. The father developed his own means of communicating with his son. It turned out to be similar to the hand signals taught within Root. Team 7 was amazed at the coincidence. Little did they know that Danzo copied the language from a poor Suna family from long ago during his younger days as a Konoha spy.

Then there was Tsume, a female ranger from Kumogakuren who seemed to have taken it to task to teach her new partner all there was to know about _relationships_.

"I don't think she knows that much herself, though," Tsubasa, the ranger from Root whispered when Tsume was off hearing distance. "She said a way to a man's heart is through his stomach, is that true?"

"Uhm…I don't think so," Naruto said. "Sakura-chan, that's not true, is it?"

"There's no way that could be true," Sakura answered. "Yamato-taichou, is that -"

"I have no idea," Tenzou replied then turned to Tsubasa. "We're not very helpful, are we? Sorry."

"Actually, it's a relief. I thought I was the only one who didn't understand this."

"We're running out of time," Sasuke reminded them. He was as clueless as everyone about the issue but he rightly figured they needed to focus on the task at hand.

"You're right," Sakura agreed. They only had about a week before they had to head back to Konoha to start their missions.

"Perhaps Natagama-senpai has an idea where Sai is," Tsubasa offered.

"We are hoping he does but we have yet to find him," Sakura said. "If he doesn't know anything, there's slim chance anyone else left does."

"In any case, our journey hasn't been in vain," Tenzou said. "Finding our Konohan volunteers safe will be welcome news back home. The Hokage will be particularly happy."

Tsubasa nodded. Tenzou noted this to be a gesture of real understanding. He felt more at ease leaving the rangers to continue with their tasks than he was when they first set out from Konoha. Kakashi-senpai would welcome the news as well, he thought. Not only where they safe, they were actually making friends.

"I should ask the Hyuugas about that," Naruto mused as they left. "Since they can see chakra flow, they can probably see if there's a short path between the heart and the stomach, right?"

"What does it matter?" Sasuke said impatiently.

"Hmm, you're right. Who cares," Naruto shrugged.

After three days, they were finally able to find Natagama in a small town 300 kilometers west of the border outside Earth Country. He was particularly bothered that he was discovered with seeming ease. He was hiding behind the shadows in an obscure part of the town, virtually undetectable if not for the tracer signal. He led Tenzou aside to the farthest end of a dark narrow alley for a private discourse.

"You shouldn't have come here," Natagama said grimly. "I am in the middle of investigating suspicious movements."

"The Hokage is concerned about our volunteers."

Tenzou found that the line generally earned a positive response from its hearer. He did not expect to be able to reach out to any other Root member other than Sai but their quest was proving to be successful in that respect.

"The Hokage has no cause for concern," Natagama said. "We are quite capable of doing our jobs."

"That's not what I meant. The Hokage is concerned for you're well-being."

"Well-being? Why should she be concerned about that? The safety of Konoha is all that should matter."

As the most senior of Root's remnants, Natagama was proving to be harder to bend emotionally. Tenzou chose his words carefully.

"Konoha…is nothing if not for the people that comprise it. You are still part of the village. And there are people there who care what happens to you in the mission field."

"We have no use for such sentiments. A shinobi is worth only what he lays down his life for. There will be no ceremony when we die. "

"An unceremonious death is indeed part of a shinobi's life. And that is even truer for us who belong to the ANBU. But it doesn't mean that life isn't valued by those who know of its existence."

Natagama exhaled through his nose to display his impatience. "Why did you come and how did you find me?"

"Like I said, the Hokage is concerned about the well-being of all our volunteers." Tenzou then turned his head and raised it toward his team. "And those three are looking for their friend, Sai."

Naruto and his two teammates were at the other end of the alley talking to Natagama's partner from Kirigakure.

"He's a strange one," Hasaki said turning his head toward Natagama's direction. "Straight-faced, hardly speaks. But he's ability is impressive. Took him only about a week to sense strange movements in this town. But most of the time, I think he forgets that he has a partner."

Sakura sympathized with Hasaki's dilemma but knew she could offer no solution so she just relayed their purpose for being there. "We were hoping Natagama-san knew the locations of his Root comrades."

"Not likely," Hasaki said. "We drew lots. We intentionally kept our assigned territories secret so that when one of us is captured, the locations of the others will not be revealed even under mind-reading jutsu."

Such precautions proved the volunteers' dedication to their duties. Unfortunately, it made the team's task much harder.

After a while, Tenzou approached them and informed his team they were leaving. The discussion with Natagama was apparently unfruitful. Before they left, he led Hasaki aside and whispered a short message.

The two rangers had already disappeared when Naruto looked back. "That Natagama seemed just as emotionless as Sai was before."

Tenzou smiled. "Don't forget, we were able to track him here."

Sasuke nodded. Sakura smiled as well.

"What? What?" Naruto asked.

"The fact that the signal was strong meant he still has his senbei," Sakura said.

"Aah!" Naruto mouthed as he grasped the meaning.

"He's just as human as any of us," Tenzou said. "He also longs for connection even if he doesn't show it." He walked on thinking of the message he gave Hasaki and the reply he received.

"_Natagama-san is a good man. He just has a hard time expressing himself because of his training. Please be patient with him."_

"_I understand," _Hasaki said.

Tenzou smiled again to himself. Hasaki had pulled out a pack of senbei from his pocket. Tenzou was sure it was from Natagama. Hasaki said he was saving it for his son who he'll try to see very soon. Natagama got paired with the kind of man who could respond best to his need for connection. It wasn't too late for the old Root warrior.

* * *

**End of Part III**

* * *

**Next: Part IV ~ Black and White ~**


	5. Part IV

**PART IV**

**Black and White**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"_**Have you ever gone to a place and regretted it?"**_

"_**Yes I have."**_

"_**Did you come back by yourself?"**_

"_**No. Friends brought me back."**_

Nobuta Wo Produce Ep. 10

**oooOOOooo**

The team again found themselves in the middle of a vast wilderness with nothing but rocks as far as the eye could see. Giant boulders littered the ground and cast long shadows under the moonlight. They took shelter under a large crag they passed along the way.

The air was dry and was much colder than it had been in the town where they found Natagama. And it was getting colder still. They were traveling farther into strange lands outside the allied countries. But it was the only route left to take.

By a small campfire, Sasuke crossed out all the territories they had covered from the map Gaara provided. He studied the areas that they had yet to reach. Yamato-taichou couldn't sense any more signals despite having traveled so far. They could only assume the rest of the rangers ate their senbei a long time ago. It was too much to hope that everyone would be sentimentally attached to the little cracker.

A week back, Sasuke summoned an eagle to bring a message to the Hokage updating her of their progress. The eagle returned a few days later with a reply.

Tsunade was pleased that the rangers were safe and connecting well emotionally with their partners. She seemed satisfied with this knowledge and so asked them to return before missions started. Gaara would definitely hear from Sai in about three months' time, she assured. Requests for Konoha's service were already coming in and she needed all their able shinobi to be ready. Taking on as many missions as possible would ensure that the village would once again become economically independent. Indeed, this personal mission seemed inane in comparison to that goal.

The order to head back wasn't so easy to obey particularly for Naruto and Sakura. They felt they were getting close. Sasuke realized time was against them no matter how he considered increasing their pace. Their current direction pointed nowhere. Yet he couldn't bring himself to raise the fact. He knew the Hokage, despite her empathy, could only tolerate their disobedience to a certain extent. But it wasn't for him to decide to give up on Sai.

It wasn't in him to give up either. Yet he wondered what harm could happen if they did. They all started off worried that Sai might do something harmful to himself. But gauging from the condition of the other rangers, he might be doing better than they expected.

But then Sasuke remembered that Sai was out there by himself. If he got consumed by grief just as he had been, who knew what could happen? As of that moment, he wasn't even sure if Sai intentionally distributed the senbei to keep from being traced.

He turned his attention toward Naruto and Sakura whose attention, in turn, was focused on the horizon. They had been doing this a lot lately and he knew why. It might very well be that a black and white ink bird was flying across the sky at any time. They weren't taking any chances.

Sasuke would not say it openly but he knew he owed a lot to his two friends. He once wreaked havoc to the shinobi world. His hands were stained with the blood of countless lives. Everyone had given up on him, not excluding himself. But Naruto and Sakura remained loyal to the end. So who was he to give up on someone they considered their friend? Sai could not be any worse a person than he was, he thought. And most likely even more worth being called a friend than he would ever be.

It was easy to play down the urgency of the matter. After all, Sai wasn't a dangerous rouge nin like he was. But he himself knew the difference a split second could make in one's life. Whether it's from hatred or grief, a turning point needs only a moment. The decision to join the Sound Four took only a moment's teetering between right and wrong. After that, his mind faded to black. The longer he stayed in darkness, the harder it was to come back to the light. He learned this truth the hard way.

He didn't know much about Sai. It was all the more reason why he couldn't take any chances either. They had to see it through. They had to make sure Sai knew he had friends he could go back to or take him back if it became necessary.

After receiving Tsunade's order, they discussed their next course of action. Naruto and Sakura were determined to keep going. Tenzou decided he should go back and explain personally to the Hokage. He couldn't sense any more signals anyway so his going back would be a sort of compromise to the Hokage's wishes. The team was his responsibility but he trusted them enough to leave the rest of the search to them. It was agreed that he would hold off Tsunade's wrath at being disobeyed, or at least he'd try. "But probably no more than two weeks so come home by then," he said before he took off. A few days had passed since then before they entered this alien wilderness.

"We have to come up with a strategy," Sakura said to her two remaining companions while warming her hands by the fire. "At this point, I don't think we'll be able to find Sai without resorting to something extraordinary."

"I tried," Naruto said.

"A few days ago, when you were all asleep, I went on sage mode and tried to sense his chakra." Naruto shrugged his shoulders to signify that he sensed nothing. "Maybe I did it too early or too late. He's just not here or I can't reach far enough."

"Once we're out of this wilderness, can you do it again?" Sasuke asked.

"I'll try," Naruto said but with a hint of doubt in his voice. "I did it effectively the first time when Pein invaded Konoha. Then again during the war when…"

"When?" Sakura asked.

"Kurama," Naruto said as the realization struck him. "He increased my energy. That's why I was able to extend my range."

"But Kurama is ," Sakura didn't continue. She knew Naruto made a promise during the war. The Kyuubi was already free as a result, never to be sealed again. They had formed a pact to forever be allies but summoning him for a non-mission such as this was out of the question.

"He's in some oddly named dimension at this moment. I can't even pronounce it," Naruto said.

"He has a right to a vacation just as anyone, I guess," Sakura said.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

* * *

******oooOOOooo**

"_**The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."**_

Albert Einstein

**oooOOOooo**

They fell asleep around the camp fire and woke up an hour later when it died out. The cold air was getting unbearable so Sasuke revived the fire with his katon jutsu. The temperature wasn't improving. They realized they could use Yamato-taichou's wooden shelter just then. They turned and shivered where they lay.

Then all at once they bolted up.

"Did you feel that?" Naruto asked.

"What is it?" Sakura felt it too. Their senses were on full alert. Everything around them was still with the exception of the flames steadily burning at the center. It was pitch black apart from the dome of muted light produced by the campfire. But there was a thickness in the air that was out of the ordinary.

Then suddenly the fire too disappeared like it was doused with invisible water. They even heard a soft hiss as the flame vanished, leaving only a coil of smoke that faded upward.

They stood back to back as they let their eyes adjust to the darkness around them. Something was definitely off, they thought. They heightened all their senses even more. The air smelled of danger.

Dead silence.

It was hard to breathe.

Slowly their eyes adjusted slightly as black turned to dark gray. Then light gray and…

"The rocks!" Sasuke shouted.

The large boulders scattered throughout the land were melting to the ground like molten lava. Even the small rocks were dissolving. They leaped out from where they stood as the crag over them melted in the same manner.

When the crag was completely leveled, all three shinobi ran toward each other and then turned around to stand back to back again. Their eyes surveyed their surroundings.

"Tsk!" Sasuke clicked. If worse came to worst, he wasn't fit enough to activate any of his stronger offensive attacks. He would have to rely on the basics.

"This is strange," Sakura said.

"You don't say," Sasuke said but at once regretting his sarcasm. Sakura didn't seem to mind though.

"No, I mean if rocks were to melt, it should be because of something extremely hot but the atmosphere is so cold," she said. "It's going against the nature of the elements."

"Maybe we're under genjutsu," Naruto offered.

"It's possible," Sakura said.

"Kai!" They said in unison in an attempt to deactivate the illusion if it was that.

Nothing happened. The world had turned flat.

Sakura stooped down and groped the ground with her fingers. She couldn't feel anything because her skin had gotten numb from the cold. She assumed then that the ground was at the same icy temperature as the air and yet no ice had formed.

Naruto's teeth chattered from the cold. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" he managed to utter. A hundred shadow clones appeared and surrounded them. Whatever was out there, it was safer for his clones to deal with it first, he figured.

"Whoever's behind this obviously has earth affinity," Sasuke said. "I can't use kirin yet but I still have chidori."

Naruto nodded but his teammates didn't see since they were still standing back to back. "I have a few tricks too," he said.

"Do you feel that?" Sakura asked. Something invisible was encircling them from afar. They felt its energy increase as the circling motion narrowed. "It's coming closer," Sakura said. They gauged the distance to be about thirty meters.

"Aaaah!" Naruto's clones yelled as they charged toward the invisible threat. One by one Naruto's clones dispersed with a pop as it made contact with the hostile force.

"Well?" Sakura asked, aware that the clones were Naruto's way of gauging what they were yet to see.

"Human. Or it felt human when it engaged. But there's more than one," Naruto reported.

"Well then since it's human…" Sakura then leaped high and grunted her signature fighting cry. "Shannaaroooo!" Her fist slammed onto the earth causing it to vibrate tremendously. The surface cracked wide forming a zigzag pattern toward the direction of their circling foes.

Sasuke's sharingan was active. He didn't think Sakura hit anything with her attack but he sensed the circling had stopped. Naruto created another hundred clones as an initial defense.

"Show yourself!" Naruto demanded. He was short of breath. His sustained energy wasn't as it used to be.

The debris of earth and stone that were formed from Sakura's punch melted and spread on the flattened ground like before but the zigzag crack remained open.

"They don't seem to like anything protruding upward," Naruto said.

"Or they're trying to make us feel vulnerable by making us stand out here in the open," Sasuke said.

"Look there," Sakura said flicking her head toward the spot where the crag melted. The others nodded in understanding. She took out a scroll from her pouch and unrolled it in the air. A bunch of twigs emerged from the scroll and were strewn around them.

"Now Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke blew a fireball and lit up the scattered twigs. The place brightened and exposed their once invisible foes. The air warmed a little too.

"Thank you, Yamato-taichou!" Naruto said aloud truly grateful to their absent captain. Tenzou, just before he left, had produced the twigs and stored them in the scroll to be used as kindling specifically for such a cold place without vegetation. They didn't expect they'd have to use them all at once though.

They then saw that twenty beings shrouded in gray veil were surrounding them just a few meters off. The veil provided camouflage that would make them seem invisible. But the brightness revealed their position.

"Good eye, Sakura," Sasuke said then. When Sakura spotted the kindling intact just where their campfire was, they correctly figured that the enemy's jutsu had no effect on wood.

"You may think you have outwitted us with your wood and fire but it changes nothing. There is no escape," one of the men surrounding them declared. "You will all die here tonight."

* * *

**Chapter 15**

* * *

******oooOOOooo**

"_**Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they're supposed to help you discover who you are."**_

Bernice Johnson Reagon

**oooOOOooo**

The hooded men spread out their arms and released sprays of water in an attempt to kill the fire acting as a barrier between them and Team 7.

"I see," Sakura said. "They're water element users too. That explains how they put out our camp fire. They must've aimed from a distance."

"They're playing around with us," Sasuke said. "But it's a way to gauge our strength."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "They're being cautious. We must be careful too."

Just as she said it, Naruto's clones charged forward with Naruto himself following.

"Naruto! You idiot," Sakura yelled after him.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The shadow clones vanished as they encountered serious blows from the enemy. The circle of fire was infiltrated as portions were doused with water. However, there were enough flames burning to keep the surroundings visible to everyone.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

All one hundred clones disappeared. The veiled beings edged closer until finally, they had completely surrounded the three young shinobi. They left no gap between their cloaks.

Up close, the team could then see that the eyes of their enemies had glowing orange irises. The only skin visible was the face, ash-colored with three orange vertical stripes on each cheek.

Sasuke had chidori in his hand but did not release it. Even if he was able to strike a few, it wasn't enough to defeat the rest. He didn't realize how weak he still was until that moment. The time to strike was crucial. All the three of them could do was wait until their foes took the initiative to converge on them. And all at once they did.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The veiled men looked at each other seemingly confused. Their prey had disappeared.

"Yaaaaaah!" Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke lunged from behind and struck with all their might from three opposite directions, Naruto with his rasengan, Sasuke with chidori and Sakura with her powerful punch.

Boom! Screech! Blam!

The enemy scattered like three sets of bowling pins. The impact of Naruto's rasengan created a deep round gorge on the ground. Those hit lay motionless along with them that suffered Sakura's attack. Sasuke's victims were still convulsing from getting electrocuted.

"Good job, Naruto," Sakura said. Naruto grinned. His clones, like always, were useful diversions as he hid himself under the crack produced by Sakura earlier. Both Sasuka and Sasuke morphed into Naruto and pretended to be part of his clones. They jumped into the crack as well while leaving their own clones as open targets.

But their gladness was short-lived as they witnessed each of the fallen men get swallowed by the earth. Once again, the three stood back to back. The battle was not over.

"Impressive." The deep hollow voice seemed to have come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Their eyes strayed to all directions trying to find its source.

"I was quite amused by your little stunt," the voice continued. "I didn't expect such cunning moves from little children. Too bad I've grown tired of playing."

Suddenly, they heard a loud rumbling sound and felt the ground shake. The rumbling grew louder that it almost deafened their ears. Then the earth began to swallow their feet rendering them immobile.

"Chidori!" Sasuke's thrust penetrated the earth and diffused its hold on his legs but only for an instant. The earth merged back around him just as quickly as it parted. Sasuke panted as he tried to catch his breath. All three struggled to break free to no avail. The mound gripping them started to crawl up until it reached their knees.

"This is probably a good time to ask for help," Sakura said.

Naruto bit his finger until blood spurted out. He bent down with some effort because his knees were locked. He slammed his hand to the ground. "Kutchiyose no Jutsu!" A web-like symbol appeared.

Nothing.

"Oy Bunta-Oyabun! Need some help here!" Naruto called out to the chief of the toads. Still nothing.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" It was Sasuke's turn to try his own summoning technique.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked when that didn't work either.

"Bwahahahahaha!" The hollow voice laughed and the ground shook.

"You have come to the forbidden land of Iou. No animal can enter and survive here summoned or otherwise."

"What do you want?" Naruto asked angrily.

"What do _**I**_ want?" the voice replied. "You dare enter my lands and ask me what I want."

The earth rumbled again more strongly. The mound engulfing their legs tightened and crawled farther up until it reached their waists. The cold air suddenly turned to heat.

A few meters away from them facing Naruto, something was forming, rising from the ground. It was molten lava in the form of a giant human from the waist up but was shapeless downward. His arms extended horizontally with giant hands folded into fists. His eyes were a pair of bright orange light glaring at the intruders before him. He had three metallic orange streaks vertically oozing down his cheeks just like the veiled creatures much earlier.

The lava head and torso solidified and turned to ash-colored rock. From the waist down his body resembled a cone as if it was a skirt flowing downward. However, the skirt was still in lava form. Then he started to move toward the three helpless shinobi, his lava skirt base slowly edging him forward.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, paralyzed from the waist down, could only stare at the approaching creature and await their fate.

* * *

**Chapter 16**

* * *

******oooOOOooo**

"_**They say you are judged by the strength of your enemies."**_

James Bond

**oooOOOooo**

The three shinobi craned their necks upward at the giant who towered over them just two meters away. His eyes gleamed with wrath as he raised his closed fist and motioned to slam down.

Foom! Foom! Blam!

An explosion occurred just behind the giant's head but it didn't appear to have any effect. It did succeed in distracting the creature's attention. He turned around to find the source of disturbance.

Blam! A second blast was seen high above illuminating the sky. The giant's rock solid skin glowed from the light. Thin orange vein-like streaks ran all over his body.

Two masked shinobi stood some ways off. One of them had a bazooka-like weapon on his shoulder, apparently the source of the explosive attack that just occurred.

The giant extended his hand to the direction of his attackers. The earth rumbled as before. The ground opened beneath them to swallow their feet. But when the mound was about to close up, the two shinobi leaped high and successfully dodged it.

The second shinobi then released what looked like numerous spears from afar. The spears pierced the flat ground perfectly perpendicular to it. When he stepped on top of two spears, Naruto realized they functioned as stilts. The shinobi with the bazooka-like weapon rode on his partner's shoulders and fired another shot at the giant.

"_That _is a neat trick!" Naruto said.

Foom! Blam!

Again, it had no effect other than to infuriate the giant further. But even as he tried to grab at the two shinobi from below, more stilts were produced to provide escape.

The giant stopped moving then and was silent for a moment. Then he let out a bellowing laugh. "You two have been observing for a while, haven't you?" He said with his deep hollow voice. "You wouldn't have been able to evade my grasp otherwise. But you can't get away for long."

The earth rumbled again. The giant dissolved to the ground like the boulders that Team 7 witnessed early on.

"Chidori!" Sasuke attempted his technique again, this time successfully freeing himself from the earth's grasp. He aimed at their center, thus releasing his two teammates as well.

Their eyes surveyed their surroundings. All was quiet. They turned to the shinobi who came to their rescue. The two signaled for them to stay still. Their eyes watched the ground, concerned that the earth would swallow their feet again. They prepared to leap at any second.

Foom! Foom! Foom! Foom! Foom! Foom!

To their dismay, the sound did not come from the masked shinobi's weapon. Irregularly-shaped cracks appeared from where they were and spewed out hot steam and smoke like geysers. All of them, including the two masked shinobi, were hurled up into the air unexpectedly. They landed violently on the ground where their bodies were engulfed by the earth.

The team found themselves in a worst state than before. Their arms, legs and stomachs were bound in hard mass. Their bodies ached from the impact of the fall and they felt a sharp sting where their skin made contact with the hot steam.

"Gaaaaaaah!" They heard someone scream. They forced their heads up and saw a shinobi running forward with tremendous speed.

"It's Natagama!" Sakura declared. It wasn't just him. Three other rangers followed behind.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Natagama and his partner Hasaki attacked the ground with paper bombs as a diversion while the other two shinobi worked on another task.

Whoosh!

A shinobi leaped and landed over Naruto and then grinned at him. "Quite a bind you found yourself in," she said. It was Kama, the female ranger from Kirigakure.

"Kusari," she then called.

Kusari released a pair of chains into the air and Kama infused it with her water element jutsu that took shape as a sickle. The combination dug into the earth starting from Naruto's left side. It then bore underneath him. The chain emerged at the right pulling the mass upward and Naruto with it. The earth binding him crumbled.

Kusari and Kama then hurried to the next captive shinobi and did the same technique. When they were all free, all of them leaped on top of stilts produced by their comrade.

"I've had enough of this," Sasuke grunted. He was determined to use Kirin even if it took every ounce of strength in him.

Naruto too was getting impatient. Since a water element user had arrived, there was a possibility he would be able to use one of his jutsu that he'd done with Yamato-taichou in the past to inflict severe damage. "Kama," he said. He jumped to a pair of stilts near the female ranger then whispered his plan.

"We were caught off guard by those steam-spouting geysers," the ranger with the bazooka said. "Be ready to leap out at any time before they emerge again."

A few meters away, the same scene they witnessed earlier began to take place. The giant was again taking shape from the ground, first looking like molten lava then solidifying its upper half into rock. His irises seemed to be glowing a brighter orange red this time. The orange veins all over his body looked like it was fire peeking out from underneath his body and ready to burst out at any second.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the giant growled. His wrath had reached its peak.

"Ready Kama," Naruto yelled. Kama nodded. She began to form a giant ball of water on his palm. It got bigger and bigger while Naruto infused it with his wind element chakra. He was glad the ball for his Typhoon Water Vortex Technique was forming nicely.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was looking up at the sky. It had already formed dark clouds above them. It was fortunate that there were natural clouds already present. He would have been forced to produce his own otherwise and that would be too much to manage in his state.

Tzzzt! Tzzzt!

Bolts of white lightning emerging from the clouds accompanied the screeching sound.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said with concern "You're not strong enough for that." Sasuke did not respond. The technique is a one-shot but if he did it right, it would be powerful enough to raze a mountain flat. He had to make sure this monster was destroyed.

Naruto's charged ball was ready. All Sasuke need do was aim. The giant monster charged.

As they were about to strike, they all heard a hawk's cry from above. A black and white ink hawk descended in between the giant and the group of shinobi. On its back rode Sai. He alit from the hawk and faced the monster.

"Sai!" Naruto and Sakura screamed with both joy and concern as the giant's attention suddenly turned to the single shinobi between them. But then their expressions turned to shock when the black and white bird flew up and rested on the giant's shoulder.

Sai turned around slowly and faced them. He had a serious expression on his face. He wasn't smiling.

* * *

**End of Part IV**

* * *

**Next: Part V ~ ****Bonds and Release ~**


	6. Part V

**Part V**

**Bonds and Release**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"_**Time, which changes people, does not alter**_

_**the image we have retained of them."**_

Marcel Proust

**oooOOOooo**

"Sai!" Naruto yelled while flailing his arms to catch the other's attention. Sai looked directly at him but his expression did not change. There was intensity in his eyes that Naruto had never seen before.

The giant was directly behind him. The ink hawk was still resting on its massive shoulder. It let out a loud squawk as if to challenge anyone who would dare draw near. The giant's nose flared and emitted black smoke while his orange eyes burned like fire.

"Sai," Sakura muttered softly to herself. Images of Sasuke's cold eyes when she saw him at Orochimaru's hide-out flashed across her mind. "It can't be," she said. "We can't be too late," she said almost in tears.

Sai did not move an inch from where he stood. He pulled a scroll from his pouch with his left hand and held his brush with his right.

At that moment, Sasuke lost his balance from the stilts he was on and he fell to the ground on his hands and knees. He grabbed his chest in pain.

"Sasuke!" Sakura leaped down and ran to him.

The storm clouds above them had cleared. Sasuke's energy couldn't sustain the jutsu any longer. And it would be impossible to conjure something that powerful again in his state. He realized he missed his chance. He tried to get up with labored breath. He let Sakura help him. Her hand produced a luminous green light as she laid it on his chest in application of her healing jutsu.

"That thing is certainly not human," Sakura said. "And it looks like Sai has taken its side," she said still half believing it.

The ball of wind and water energy that Naruto made with Kama evaporated when he lost concentration upon Sai's appearance. It would take time to make another one and his focus was distracted at the moment.

"Oy! Sai! What the hell are you doing? That guy is dangerous!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke turned his face toward Naruto who was still standing on top of stilts. "It looks like he still doesn't get it," he noted. Sakura's heart ached for their friend but she knew neither of them would give up on Sai no matter what happened. Yet it seemed to her that the situation was against them from all areas.

They had yet to determine what kind of monster they were dealing with. They were sure they had not yet seen what it was truly capable of. All they knew was that it had complete control over the whole ground they were stepping on. It could also wield both water and fire. Even the atmosphere changed at its will.

What concerned them further was Naruto. If it ever came down to a confrontation, he would definitely not give his all against Sai. It was too early to reach that point like he did with Sasuke in the past. It could mean death for all of them. And yet all they could do was wait.

"You have trespassed in the Land of Iou!" Sai declared. "You have offended Kazan-sama!"

"Kazan-_**sama**_?" Naruto said in disbelief. Sai just called the giant _lord._ He alit from his stilts and run forward. "Oy Sai! - "

"Naruto!" Sasuke called to him. "Just get ready to fight."

Naruto stopped in his tracks and clenched his fist. He stared at Sai from where he was. Sai's serious expression had not changed.

"He must be under some kind of spell," he said. Sakura agreed with the possibility.

Suddenly, the ground shook so hard that Naruto fell backward.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The earth exploded all around them. The holes they created emitted fire, steam and black smoke. The air began to reek of suffocating gas.

The tremor caused the rangers to fall from their stilts. All of them coughed as the fumes entered their lungs. They covered their faces and held their breath.

Sai then unrolled his scroll on the ground. The parchment was spread out longer than usual. On it he began to draw furiously fast. Everyone braced themselves for what was to come.

"Ninpo chouju giga!"

From the scroll jumped out various kinds of beasts. The team and the rangers watched in confusion and disbelief.

"Ah…," Naruto uttered slowly. "Is that…a bunny?"

Indeed it was a rabbit. There was also a deer, a cat, a horse, a turtle, an elephant and all other kinds of land animals big and small.

The giant looked down on Sai's creation. He bent down slowly and tried to pat the ink beasts with his huge forefinger.

The group of shinobi watching couldn't quite understand what was going on. They wondered if the fumes made them hallucinate. Sai then turned his back on them and faced the giant.

"Kazan-sama, these people did not intend to enter the land of Iou without permission. They meant no disrespect," he said.

Kazan stood to his full height. "They are insolent!" he growled with his deep hollow voice.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto yelled. "You attacked us first!"

Sai turned to him and glared. Naruto was immediately silenced. He was convinced that Sai was on their side after all but he just wasn't used to the facial expressions he'd been making.

"They are shinobi warriors just like I am," Sai said. "Their first instinct is to fight."

"But they are good people," he assured. "And they are my comrades. So in their behalf, I ask for your forgiveness." He said the last with a low bow.

The giant looked down on Sai then extended his sight to the group of shinobi farther across him. He surveyed them one by one as if trying to peer into each of their souls. Then he stared at Naruto who was some distance in front of the group.

He looked down on Sai again. His once blaring red orange eyes slowly softened into a lighter orange. The fiery veins on his upper body faded and it was once again solid gray rock. "Make me a whale," he said. At once, Sai bent down and drew a whale on his scroll. The creature, half the size of a grown whale, emerged from the scroll and glided in the air.

The earth then parted a long straight crack behind the whale and out came water that shot straight upward. It seemed like two giant glass panels were holding the water in between. It flowed calmly within the square like the surface of a lake. It looked like the whale was swimming through it but it was actually in front.

Then the numerous holes spewing out fire and steam around the land closed up. The shinobi removed their hands from their mouths when they sensed that the fumes had dissipated. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"I will spare them," the giant said. "But they cannot stay. No one can stay."

Sai nodded. He then turned around and walked toward the group of shinobi waiting. The giant behind him went on to play with the ink land animals and watched the floating whale before him.

"Naruto," Sai greeted with a smile when he was close enough.

WHAM!

Naruto gave him a swift punch on the left side of the face that sent him reeling backwards.

* * *

**Chapter 18**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"_**When we are no longer able to change a situation,**_

_**we are challenged to change ourselves.**_

Victor Frankl

**oooOOOooo**

Sai squirmed holding his left cheek. "Ow! What was that for?"

Sakura and Sasuke ran to them. The others were going to rush over too but Hasaki held them back.

"Do you know what we've been through to get here? You knew we'd come looking for you!" Naruto said angrily. "You knew the senbei had tracers in them so you gave them out. You think you can get away from us that easy?"

"What are you talking about?" Sai asked, obviously confused.

"You didn't know?" Sakura asked in turn.

"He didn't know," Sasuke concluded.

"Well Naruto did back up Yamato-taichou on that the first time," Sakura said. "But I guess the long trek just built up his stress somewhat."

"Why did you set out alone?" Naruto demanded.

"We had a lot of territory to cover," Sai answered simply.

"You could have gone with a partner."

"The number was uneven."

"What were you thinking not even telling us you were leaving?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, that." Sai muttered with a hint of embarrassment.

"You were grieving for your brother, weren't you?" Sasuke asked.

Sai was surprised at the suggestion, especially since it came from Sasuke.

"Grieving?" Sai repeated. He had not considered the word before. He was grieving for Shin. He mulled over the concept and decided Sasuke was right.

"Why did you throw away all your paintings and books?" Sakura asked.

"Why did you clear out your apartment?" Naruto badgered. "You had no intention of coming back, did you?"

Sai was overwhelmed by the barrage of questions and realized he had to start explaining at some point.

"My mission with the Rangers will run indefinitely, I had to let go of the apartment. I had to take only the necessities."

"But those paintings, you've had them for a long time," Sakura said.

"I can always make new ones. As for the books, I learned more about relationships from you, Naruto, than I ever did from those."

"Me?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Remember on our first mission, you told me why you were bent on getting Sasuke back. You said you used to hate Sasuke…"

Naruto's own words flashed in his mind.

"_I used to hate Sasuke but it was actually fun being with him. He's the only person who acknowledged me, more than anyone else. Sasuke is my friend. It's a special bond I was finally able to make."_

"Yeah, so?" Naruto asked.

"You stopped hating Sasuke when he acknowledged you. So I thought I'd acknowledge them," Sai said directing his attention to the rangers. "And when I did, they started acknowledging me. The emptiness that I've been feeling sort of eased after that. I realized I can't always wait for people to come to me."

"Excuse me," Natagama interrupted. His voice betrayed his impatience despite his emotionless face. "We have to be on our way soon. This didn't turn out to be part of the threat that we're investigating but we still need to discuss it with Sai."

"Oh," Sakura said. "Of course, sorry. Actually, we're curious about that too." The others came forward to join the conference.

"I almost leveled this place if you hadn't come," Sasuke said.

"Actually," Sai began. "That would be impossible. You cannot destroy Kazan-sama."

"I was going to use Kirin on him," Sasuke said, confident of his jutsu's destructive power. Sakura shivered at the thought. Sasuke could have died if he'd gone through with it.

"You don't understand," Sai said. "You may cause the land some damage but it will always repair itself. Your action would have ended up killing all of you instead. Kazan-sama will remain."

He turned his head back toward the giant and they all watched as Kazan stood to his full height before slowly descending back into the earth. The long narrow opening swallowed the wall of water before it closed up completely. Boulders and rocks started shooting up until the land looked as it was before. The sun was beginning to rise in the east. They only realized then that they struggled in that place for hours.

Sai still had his back to them while waiting until the last of his ink beasts was back inside his open scroll. "He isn't just lord of this land," he then said. "He is the land. He is the water, the fire and the steam. He's been here since the beginning." Sai turned to face them again. "You're standing on a live underground volcano. It's only by Kazan-sama's power that there is earth for you to walk on in this place."

"It actually makes sense," Sakura said. "No matter how strong a shinobi gets, there will be and always have been a greater power beyond our control and understanding."

"So…," Naruto started. "You got to be friends with him…how?"

"This was part of the territory I was assigned to by lot. When I first entered, Kazan-sama attacked me with cloaked human-like beings. I tried to escape with a giant bird but Kazan-sama himself appeared and caught it. I created more super scroll beasts to defend myself. When he said I was trespassing, I thought I should try apologizing. I identified myself and assured him I meant no harm. I guess it was luck that he was fascinated with my beast creations."

"He said no animal can enter and survive here," Naruto said. "We couldn't even use our summoning."

"He loves animals," Sai revealed. "He told me he allowed them here in the beginning. But the fire and the natural gases eventually killed them. So he set up a barrier to prevent them from entering. He misses them, their various shapes, the way they moved, but it was the only way to protect them. I spent a whole night just making all kinds of animals for him."

Sai then turned to Natagama and the other Rangers. "There is no human activity here. Kazan-sama makes sure this place is always deserted. So I ventured out farther north to see what else I could find. I rushed back as soon as I saw the signal."

"Signal?" Naruto asked.

"I get it!" Sakura said. Then she turned to the ranger with the bazooka-like weapon. "The second shot to the sky. I thought it was just to light the surroundings but it sent a signal to the others, didn't it?"

"We're not supposed to reveal these things to you," Natagama said. "But since you figured it out, yes, we have ways to send out an emergency signal to one another."

"Hou-san's artillery has his chakra infused in it," Sai explained. "Once he shoots it up to the sky, it disperses to all directions until the nearest ranger spots it.

"Each of our signals is unique depending on our special jutsu," Kama continued. "We had to come up with those signals and make sure we were familiar with everyone else's before we left Sunagakure."

"Well, we wouldn't be fit to be called rangers if we don't know how to adapt ourselves, yes?" Hasaki said with a grin. Natagama looked at him and gave a quick nod, his straight face unchanged.

* * *

**Chapter 19**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"_**All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy;**_

_**for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves;**_

_**we must die to one life before we can enter another."**_

Anatole France

**oooOOOooo**

The Rangers gathered among themselves to update each other on their mission findings. They allowed some time for Sai to conclude his reunion with Team 7.

"You scared us back there," Sakura said. "I thought you'd turned evil."

"I was just concerned he'd swallow you all up if you didn't stop the aggression," Sai replied. "He's not keen on killing anyone. Otherwise he would've done so at once. But the situation looked quite serious when I got here."

"You could've just said something. Instead you made all kinds of scary faces," Naruto said.

"Really? I guess I should practice-"

"No! No practice!" Naruto said shaking both his head and open hands.

"Sai," Sakura began. "We're glad we found you. We were so worried when we learned you were gone."

"After I left, I realized I should've said goodbye. I'm sorry I didn't."

"But why did you even have to leave? Did you really think you're no longer part of our team?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't think..." Sai hesitated. It was awkward to admit he felt out of place after Sasuke returned. "I've worked on other assignments apart from team 7 for quite some time. I had to move on after the war."

"But we were supposed to start missions again soon," Sakura said.

"I couldn't wait. I had to start early." Sai thought he had his feelings sorted out but realized then that some things were still not easy to express. He had to go where he was needed, he wanted to say.

"Sai," Sasuke said. "Can I speak with you in private?" He looked at Naruto and Sakura as a silent way of asking their permission. The two nodded their assent.

They walked a few meters out of hearing distance from the rest.

"Sai, Kakashi left Team 7, did you know?"

"No, I didn't."

"He'll be handling a new team from Iruka-sensei's class. Yamato will not be leading us anymore either, I expect. They said we will have to take our turn to lead the younger ones."

Sai nodded but Sasuke deemed his meaning wasn't clear.

"I think that's still far off though. We still have more missions to accomplish before it happens."

Sai nodded again. Sasuke struggled to find the right words. He realized to be straightforward was the only way to get his point across to a person like Sai. "We need someone to lead our team," he said at last.

When Sai didn't respond, he decided to elaborate. "Naruto's too impulsive. Sakura is intelligent but she's our medical ninja. Both of them can be too emotional and I'm too short-tempered. Do you get where I'm going?"

"I think you can learn to curb your temper in time. I –"

"No, it's not just about that. You've worked with them much longer than I have. You know their strengths and weaknesses pretty well."

"You do too. You've known them from childhood."

Sasuke cast his eyes toward Naruto then a little longer at Sakura. "We're a lot different now than we were children." He couldn't quite believe it was him speaking. He decided he had already come that far anyway. "I guess what I'm saying is," he said with some difficulty. "You are as much a part of this team as I am."

"I know that," Sai said. "I guess I've known it for a while. But thank you for telling me." He said this with a smile. Sasuke tried to analyze if it was real or the fake one he heard about. It seemed real to him. But it didn't mean Sai was inclined to take up his offer.

"You said you were lucky that Kazan-sama liked your beast creations but we all know it was more than luck. We were almost killed back there. It didn't occur to any of us to take a diplomatic approach. We immediately assumed he was an enemy. You managed to think beyond a shinobi's instincts. And that's why you'd make a better leader than any of us. Besides, from the beginning, Team 7 had always been a 4-man cell -"

"Sasuke-kun," Sai interrupted. "Isn't there something more important that you need to deal with?"

They talked a little bit more until Naruto couldn't wait any longer. He decided to approach them with Sakura following.

"Oy! What have you been talking about?" he asked. "Sai, you coming home with us or what? We'll start missions soon."

Sai looked at Sasuke as if the two of them had already come to an understanding. Then he turned to the other two. "I had a period of doubt just before I left," he said. "But I've done a lot of thinking since. I regret not saying goodbye. Comrades will always be comrades. And seeing you all went this far just for me well, I'm now sure that the members of Team 7 are not just my comrades but also my friends." Then he turned his head toward the rangers still in conference at a distance. "But so are they."

His expression then turned more serious. "I'm committed to the Rangers. We have an important mission to protect the allied countries from territories other shinobi don't cover."

They were all quiet then. How could they argue with such logic? To insist on what they wanted would appear as nothing more than selfishness on their part.

Sai excused himself a while later to talk with his fellow Rangers. Just as each pair was about to depart, Naruto called to the first pair they met on their journey.

"Hey Kusari, Kama! You guys were by the border of Suna when we met you. How did you end up coming this far ahead of the others?"

"Not far from here is the sea," Kama said simply. The answer obviously didn't make sense to the hearers so she decided to elaborate. "We were by the edge of the river when we saw the signal. Let's just say I travel really fast when I'm not on land." She then turned herself completely into water but retained her human shape.

"I'm still not sure how I survived that," Kusari said. "We'll travel by land from here."

"Okay, okay!" Kama said with hands up in resignation.

And so each pair departed with a flicker until only Sai and Team 7 were left on Kazan's land.

"I'm sorry you had to travel this far," Sai said.

Sakura shook her head. "Back in Konoha, we told Kakashi-sensei that even if your reason for leaving wasn't about us, we still wanted to let you know we're your friends. And, I guess to be able to do just that makes this trip worth taking."

"Yeah," Naruto said. "We learned a lot on our journey. We met a lot of Rangers on the way. They're all worth knowing. I guess I consider them my friends too."

"Pls. thank Yamato-taichou for me," Sai said. "I didn't think he'd pull that tracer trick on me twice though."

"The motives were different this time," Sakura said. Sai nodded in understanding.

"Send us word from time to time," Naruto said.

"I will."

There in the Land of Iou, far from the jurisdiction of the Shinobi Alliance, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were able to accomplish an act they were not able to a few months earlier - they bid a proper goodbye to their friend. There was no sense of accomplishment in it at all. In fact, they only felt heaviness, but there was nothing to do about it.

* * *

**Chapter 20**

* * *

**oooOOOooo**

"_**Gratitude is an art of painting an adversity into a lovely picture.**_

Kak Sri

**oooOOOooo**

Back in Konoha a week later, three young shinobi found themselves lined up in the Hokage's office within an hour upon their return. Tsunade's burning stare reminded them of Kazan-sama's fiery eyes that came dangerously close to melting them into nothingness.

Their team captain stood beside them equally stiff and uneasy. Kakashi stood a little distance away behind him.

"I'm sorry you three," Tenzou said. "I didn't quite come back as quickly as I should have."

"That's the understatement of the year," Tsunade said. "You just came back yesterday."

"Yesterday?" The three turned to their captain in surprise.

Tenzou left his team just before they entered the Land of Iou. When he reached the Country of Wind, he sensed a signal that he couldn't resist tracking. So he went farther out again and ended up finding a pair of Rangers in pursuit of a group of shinobi from a strange hostile village. The pursuit ended up in a fierce battle which delayed his return.

"Actually, I think I'd make a good Ranger," Tenzou said when he related his whole experience to Anko. But then, he already had something precious that tied him to Konoha. He would choose that over a long-term adventure any day. So instead, he got the full dressing down by his superiors when he returned.

When Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke learned of Tenzou's delay, they understood his decision immediately. However, they knew it worsened their position with the Hokage.

"Of all the teams ever formed in Konoha," Tsunade said through gritted teeth. "You…what am I to do with you? There's only one member in your team that actually obeys my orders."

At the last statement, the three younger ones dropped their shoulders.

"He chose to leave our team," Naruto said sadly.

"Sorry…Sorry!" Sakura stammered as she tried to hold back her tears. Tsunade was positive she wasn't apologizing for disobeying orders. Always the crybaby, she thought.

"I thought if I was the one to assure him he was part of Team 7, it would be easier for him to come back. I'm sorry I failed to convince him." Sasuke said.

Tsunade sighed in frustration. Her wrath was getting totally ignored. She shot a glance at Kakashi's direction. The jounin just shrugged.

"Kakashi, Tenzou, you have some answering to do. You three, out!" Tsunade barked.

The young ones immediately proceeded to the exit. The Hokage's door closed behind them. They looked at each other with questioning eyes but it was Naruto who finally asked. "Who's Tenzou?"

**oooOOOooo**

The next morning, Sasuke found himself in deep contemplation as he walked along the street on the way to the hospital for his appointment. He was still distracted while the medical staff interviewed him. He just couldn't get the last bit of private conversation with Sai out of his head.

"_Sasuke-kun, isn't there something more important that you need to deal with?"_ Sai asked.

"_Huh?_" he muttered quite curious as to what was more important at the moment.

"_Rather than concerning yourself with me_," Sai said while turning his face toward Sakura. "_Shouldn't you try improving your relationship with her first?_"

"_What are you talking about?"_ he asked taken aback at the bold presumption.

"_Sakura's been in love with you from the beginning_."

"_And Naruto's been in love with her_." It just came out. Why did it come out like that, he asked himself.

"_Is that what you're worried about?"_ Sai asked.

Sasuke didn't reply. How could he explain his position to someone he hardly knew. More importantly, why did he need to explain? And yet he felt Sai was the last person who would patronize or judge someone else about such matters.

"_I don't deserve her,"_ he said finally.

Sai glanced at him then looked far away as he tried to understand the statement. "_Who deserves anybody?"_ he asked but almost like he was asking himself.

Sasuke didn't expect the retort. He stared at Sai whose gaze was still far off.

"_We've all done things in the past that we wish we hadn't,"_ Sai said. _"And we'll likely regret more things in the future. I guess it's what you call…being human."_

"_Not at the level of what I've done,"_ Sasuke said.

"_But you sincerely regret them." _Sai's expression had not changed. He was dead serious. _"You've been given a second chance to make amends. All you can do is gratefully accept it. And maybe -"_ He paused a while as he considered his own thoughts. _"Maybe that's all you can do about Sakura's feelings too. Just gratefully accept it. She doesn't love Naruto. She loves you. And you love her. You and I know what it's like to have regrets. We've both lost someone we wish we'd said more to."_

"_But Naruto - "_

"_Naruto has Hinata."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Hinata loves him."_

"_How do you even know these things?"_

"_I watch. We in Root, we're trained to watch. We were taught to observe other people's emotions while trained to kill our own. It's one way of finding our enemies' weakness. But I can't seem to turn it off even when I'm observing…friends."_

And so Sasuke spent all morning trying to figure out what to do. He was to meet Sakura and Naruto for lunch. "If Sai's right about Hinata, then it should be okay, right? Hinata is…the Hyuuga girl...the quiet one…defeated by Hyuuga Neji during the Chuunin exams…Is she Naruto's type? But Naruto likes Sakura…since…forever. What am I gonna do?"

"Oy, what are you mumbling about?" Naruto called just a few paces away with Sakura. "We can see your mouth moving since we spotted you from back there."

"Oh leave him alone," Sakura said.

"But it's annoying," Naruto grumbled.

"Well you're annoying too!" Sakura shot back.

That's when it dawned on Sasuke. It's really okay, he thought. It won't work between them. They're like endlessly squabbling siblings.

"Look at that," Naruto said. "Sasuke's smiling."

Sasuke bowed his head in an attempt to mask his glee. At the back of his head, he could think of a few words to express his feelings. _Thank you, Sai. I'll gratefully accept it._

* * *

**End of Part V**

* * *

**A/N: **I'm not really prone to include pairings in my stories but when I do, I use pairs that I consider canon. (Except for TenzouXAnko for reasons explained). If you don't agree, what can I say? The inclusion is hardly for the sake of pairings anyway. Don't miss the conclusion, it's my favorite part. XD Thanks for reading!

**Next: The Conclusion ~ Pictures and Conversations ~**


	7. Conclusion

**Conclusion**

* * *

**Pictures and Conversations**

**oooOOOooo**

"_**The bond that links your true family is not one of blood,**_

_**but of respect and joy in each other's life."**_

Richard Bach

**oooOOOooo**

While Sasuke made a decision to actively pursue his love interest, the rest of the day was otherwise filled with glumness over the recent turn of events. They walked aimlessly along the road after lunch without uttering a single word.

"We shouldn't sulk like this," Sakura finally said. They sat under the shade of a tree by the edge of the road just beside a farmland they had not passed through since they were little. "We did decide it was okay as long as he knew we're his friends."

"You've been able to tell if he's faking his smile, right?" Sasuke asked.

"He seems to have learned a whole lot of other facial expressions since the last time. I can't tell anymore," Naruto replied.

"I know it's inappropriate to think this way but I was secretly hoping Sai would choose us over the Rangers. I'm awful," Sakura said.

"No you're not, I felt kind of jealous too. But it's his decision. We have to respect that," Naruto said.

"Think he'll ever come back?" Sakura asked. None of them had an answer. Deep inside, they just wished their friend would be happy where he was.

They kept sitting under the shade until their butts ached. By mid-afternoon, they stood up deciding it was time to head back to the main part of the village.

Just then an old man walked past them slowly. Sakura bowed to show respect as the elderly walked by. Then Sasuke bowed followed by Naruto. The old man acknowledged silently. When he passed all of them, he suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Where's the other one?" He asked.

The three looked at each other not sure how to reply.

"There's another one, is there not?" The man asked again. "The black-haired boy. Pale skin."

"How did you know?" they asked.

"Seemed like a nice young man," he said, not bothering to answer the question. He walked on which naturally made the three follow. The old man didn't seem to mind being tailed.

"Would you like to have some tea at my house?" he offered on the way. "I grow my own tea leaves. I'm thinking of opening a tea shop in town but my daughter said it would tire me out. You should taste my tea and tell me if you'd be willing to patronize my shop."

The old man went on. They had lost interest early on but felt it would be rude to abandon him just like that. He offered them tea, after all. They entered the man's dwelling and were led straight to the living room. "Please wait while I prepare your tea," he said.

They kept their gaze on the floor as they walked in. They took their places by the low table in the middle. As they sat down, they lifted their heads and faced the wall. And there it was right in front of them - four panels of shoji screen with a full size drawing of Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Sai in black ink. All of them were smiling in the picture and they were holding hands.

The old man later related how those shoji panels were part of the house next door that was destroyed during Pein's invasion. "I thought the young man was a relative of my neighbor's but he said he was just passing through. When I went out the next day, I saw the panels were arranged side by side out front. I recognized his image immediately. Men were going to demolish everything that day so I thought I'd save them at least. Not everyday that a wandering artist passes through and leaves an interesting artwork, eh?"

The three kept their eyes on the wall for a long while. It was Naruto who finally spoke their common thought out loud.

"He'll be back."

_**~FIN~**_

Naruto & characters © Kishimoto Masashi

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

Sai hunched under a makeshift shelter of mud, dead leaves and branches as heavy rain continued to pour outside. He could hear drops of water as they trickled where the rain had seeped through from above him. He covered his face with a loose part of his hood cloak to protect himself from the biting cold. His last piece of kindling had burned out. But he surprisingly didn't mind the cold that night.

He pulled out his picture book from his pouch and carefully slipped it out of the plastic bag cover. He held it protectively for fear that it would get wet. He gently opened it to the middle and lifted a piece of folded parchment that was inserted just between the image of Shin and himself. On the parchment was a sketch he made long ago just after Pein's invasion. It was of Naruto getting hit by Sakura. It was the only drawing he saved from the bunch that he left in Konoha. Only recently, he added a third image on it, that was of Sasuke in the background smiling at the two combatants. Sai smiled to himself as he imagined the made-up scene in his head.

When a gush of wind signaled a fresh incoming assault of heavy downpour, he quickly folded the parchment and put it back in between the middle pages of the book. He then put it back inside its plastic covering and safely stowed it away in his pouch.

After that, he unrolled the message he received from base just a few hours before and re-read it for a third time.

_"Sai, y__ou have done a very satisfactory job as part of the Shinobi Rangers these past months. However, it's been decided that former ANBU Tenzou and Mitarashi Anko will take your place._ the Hokage requested that you be recalled to Konoha at once as there is a need for your services there.

_Allied Shinobi Forces_

_Chief Commander_

_Gaara_

_P.S. I believe a common friend and a few others will be very pleased when you return."_

* * *

***Thank you for reading and for all your feedback.***

For anyone who read this but haven't seen ep. 238,

the shoji panels and sketch of Naruto and Sakura are from that episode.

* * *

End-theme: "Calls Me Home" by Shannon LaBrie c/o Wolferetic

Here's the YouTube link for tune and lyrics

**www. youtubedotcom/watch?v=j85iLHc7bC8**

(delete space, replace "dot" with "." )

Thanks Wolfie!


End file.
